Goodwood Friday
King George Qatar Stakes (Group 2)
AMERICAN Affair (Jim Goldie/Paul Mulrennan) failed to fire at Royal Ascot when looking for a repeat of his King Charles III Stakes heroics from last year, but he showed he was as good as ever when landing the Group 2 King George Qatar Stakes at Goodwood on Friday.
The six-year-old sustained an injury after Ascot last summer which curtailed his season and has been more miss than hit since returning. However, he extinguished any lingering concern that he may not be as good as he was as he got the best of a grandstand finish that saw the first four home spread across the track and covered by no more than a length.
Sent off at 12/1, American Affair raced on the near side as the field split into two groups, with Jakajaro leading those who headed towards the far rail, while 2025 winner J M Jungle led the stands-side delegation.
Asfoora, on her possible final appearance on a racecourse, burst through on the far side to lead a furlong out, but American Affair came through to lead his group inside the last and was just in front at the line, beating a trio on the opposite side by half a length, a neck and the same.
Rumstar (Jonathan Portman/Rob Hornby) finished best to grab second, just ahead of Time For Sandals (Harry Eustace/Kieran Shoemark) and a fading Asfoora, who bowed out with her head held high.
Fall into place
A delighted John McGrandles, American Affair’s owner-breeder, said: “The thoughts coming into today’s race were we knew that he was good enough, but we just had to hope that everything would fall into place. He has been coming back gradually from that injury.
“It was a good enough spin at Haydock Park, but then it didn’t happen at Royal Ascot. He got a bit boxed in and nothing went right. Even in his last run at York, he was drawn on the outside and he had no cover at all, so you could put a line through that.
“You had to remember that he had beaten most of the horses in this race before, so he was good enough at one stage, we just hoped he would come back to that.
“I think he has proved today he is as good as he has ever been. It was only when he crossed the winning line that we knew it was his.
“He is a very genuine horse, but it is testament to the yard how they have got him back. The plan will be to roll on to York now. He loves York as he has won there before, but I don’t think he will be 12/1!”
JOSEPH O’Brien continued an excellent week at Goodwood when when Defiantly (Dylan Browne McMonagle) landed the Goodwood Handicap over an extended two and a half mile, beating Berkshire Sundance (Andrew Balding/Oisin Murphy) by a comfortable three lengths. He had previously finished second in the Ascot Stakes.
The trainer/jockey combination doubled their tally for the day when Galen landed the Regent Seven Seas Cruises Bentinck Conditions Stakes by a neck from Boiling Point (Karl Burke/Clifford Lee).
Galen was gaining a deserved success in the nine-furlong contest, worth £100,000. Sent off the 3/1 favourite, the winner was taking a drop in class, having taken on the likes of Romantic Warrior and Royal Champion in Bahrain, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia. Just as he had done on Defiantly earlier in the day, Browne McMonagle was close to the front throughout and found plenty when asked to hold off Boiling Point by a long neck.
The winning rider, who rode Encephalus to win here on Thursday, said: “He deserves his day in the sun. We were confident coming here today. Joseph has his horses in unbelievable form. Three winners over here is good going and we’re not done yet.” Connections later indicated that the five-year-old would return to the Middle East next winter. At 11/4 and 3/1, the pair provided punters with a 14/1 double.
Shayem stuns Godolphin hotpot
SHAYEM (Karl Burke/Clifford Lee) shocked backers of 2/5 favourite Talk Of New York (Charlie Appleby/William Buick) in the Group 3 HKJC World Pool Thoroughbred Stakes, with the winning jockey rightly praised for an enterprising ride that put his rivals on the back foot.
With three furlongs to go, Lee set sail in pursuit of the favourite’s pacemaker and stablemate Catullus, opening up a gap to the others. Although the favourite hit top gear inside the final furlong, he had too much to do in the circumstances, and crossed the line still half a length adrift of the well-ridden winner, with Catullus (Billy Loughnane) hanging on for third, two and a half lengths further back.
The winner was returned at an SP of 17/2 and came here having landed the Listed Sir Henry Cecil Stakes at Newmarket on his most recent start; he had finished second in the German 2000 Guineas earlier in the season, but this was a first group win for the son of King of Change.
Burke said: “We knew Billy was going to go off at a nice gallop and Cliff was the only one really to keep tabs on him. Cliff is very good with his fractions. From three out, I could see we were closing and the others weren’t. I thought we had a great chance from there.
“Last year, you would have said that he was a soft-ground horse, but he has proven otherwise this year. We had no qualms about the ground or the track, as he handled the undulations at Newmarket well.
“Abdulrazaq [Mohamdi] will be delighted, as he is a homebred horse as well. He is a great supporter of ours from Dubai.
“There is a nice race at Kentucky Downs for him in September and one at Colonial Downs as well. I would imagine he will get an invite to one of those on the back of that. If we do not go there, we could come back for the Celebration Mile.”
No worries for Archivist in the Mile success
THE big handicap at Goodwood on Friday was the Coral Golden Mile, and victory went to joint-topweight Archivist (Hamad Al Jehani/Callum Rodriguez) who beat the other high-weight carrier Cerulean Bay (David O’Meara/Colin Keane) by a length and a quarter.
Drawn in the supposedly disadvantaged stall 20, the 16/1 shot was sensibly kept wide by Rodriguez and came with a wet sail to lead at the furlong pole, while Cerulean Bay and third-placed Classic also finished fast and wide to claim a share of the prize money. Karl Burke was on the mark again, two on the day when Revels (11/1) and Sam James won the six-furlong nursery.