Glorious Goodwood winner for Nicky Henderson
Horses for courses is the old maxim but it seems to be July racing festivals that agree with Ghimaar.
He won at successive Galway Festivals when trained in Ireland by Dermot Weld and he provided Nicky Henderson with the second Glorious Goodwood winner of his career in the sportingbet.com Goodwood Stakes.
Tom Queally took up the role of tour guide riding On Terms as they led the field on a two-mile-five-furlong excursion across the Sussex Downs. They were still leading into the home straight but were swamped from two furlongs out. Eddie Ahern had kept to the rail and found a dream run on Ghimaar, who then fought out the finish with Junior.
The pair had met in the Ascot Stakes at the royal meeting last month, when Junior was five-and-a-half lengths too good. But an 8lb turnaround in the weights was enough for Ghimaar to win by one-and-a-half lengths, with Relative Strength a neck away in third. Ahern admitted that his tactics had been a calculated risk. “I think the 8lbs, and the clear passage, fast gallop and a good break [helped] and he was travelling so well I thought ‘what the heck’ I’ll see if it works.”
Henderson had bought Ghimaar primarily as a hurdler, and he won a novice hurdle at Worcester ridden by Tony McCoy three weeks ago, but has joined the trainer’s small Flat team. “It’s always a great meeting and our Flat string is fairly short and sweet,” he said.
“But we always to try and keep a couple for Ascot, Goodwood and York and it’s good fun when it works. He just got a really good run all the way up. Not that anything went badly wrong at Ascot – he just got a bit further behind. AP knows him well and I had Eddie talking to him this morning, getting instructions. And since Ascot we let him win his second novice over hurdles just to put confidence back in the bank - and then come and do this again.
“He’s quite a good hurdler – he’s won two of his three hurdle races – but I couldn’t get him right at all during the winter. Consequently we had to wait and it was very late before he got his first run over hurdles and, because he’s fresh and well I just figured we might as well have a look at the Flat and it’s paid it’s way.”
Ryan Moore may have had to settle for second place in the Sussex Stakes, when Rip Van Winkle was beaten a neck by Canford Cliffs, but he won a pair of short-head verdicts later in the afternoon. First Verdant gamely held off the challenge of Mataaleb in the Racing UK Handicap and 60 minutes later he completed and equally narrow victory on Dance East in the European Breeders' Fund Fillies' And Mares' Handicap.
Trainer Matthew Salaman saddled his first winner at the Glorious Goodwood meeting when Rulesn’regulations took the concluding sportingbet.com EBF Classified Stakes.
Meanwhile, in Galway and having given Ahern the benefit of his advice, McCoy got on with the day job by winning the highlight of that Festival when Finger Onthe Pulse gave the 15-times British jumps champion his first victory in the Tote Galway Plate.
http://www.senore.com/Canford-Cliffs-wins-Sussex-Stakes-in-style-a19029http://www.senore.com/Vintage-performance-from-King-Torus-a19014
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