QATAR GOODWOOD CUP

STAKES (GROUP 1)

STRADIVARIUS, who won last year’s Group 1 Qatar Goodwood Cup as a three-year-old in receipt of plenty of weight, repeated the dose at levels when the Glorious Goodwood meeting opened in warm sunshine on Tuesday.

Slightly uneasy at 4/5, he is a tough and resolute racehorse with more than a touch of class, as he showed when third in the St Leger. However, he had to work hard here to wear down Jessica Harrington’s Gold Cup rival Torcedor, the pair having the finish to themselves, with Idaho a long way back in third.

Torcedor, winner of the Sagaro Stakes and third in the big one at Ascot, tried to make all and was still control in the straight as Idaho started to find the demands too great and Queen Elizabeth’s Call To Mind broke down and was subsequently retired.

Andrea Atzeni, deputising for the suspended Frankie Dettori, moved Stradivarius closer but for a while it looked as if the favourite was under pressure with two lengths to find. Then, suddenly, he was on terms in a matter of strides and won, eased down, by half a length.

Idaho was six lengths away, followed by Dal Harraild.

“Colm O’Donoghue rode a clever race on Torcedor today and did everything right but our horse battled hard,” winning trainer John Gosden said. “It proved to be a fabulous race, even if it wasn’t quite the test of Ascot but he got the job done. This is not a track where you want to give a rival too much rope. Congratulations to the second for making it such a fantastic race.”

STAYERS’ BONUS

Stradivarius now has a major chance of winning the WH Stayers’ Million, a bonus put up by Weatherbys Hamilton Insurance to encourage the breeding, buying and racing of staying horses.

Owner-breeder Bjorn Nielsen has now seen his horse win three of the four legs and Stradivarius will try to complete the task in the Group 2 Lonsdale Cup at York next month. Gosden would not be drawn on likely targets after that but the Arc and the Melbourne Cup would both appear to be viable options.