John Gosden, Aidan O’Brien or perhaps Andrew Balding would have been the first names to spring to mind on Tuesday morning as likely winners of the trainers’ prize here this week. With only one day left on the South Downs, however, they are all struggling to keep tabs on John Quinn, who leads the way after the hugely popular Highfield Princess exploded away from her field in the Group Two King George Stakes here on Friday.
Highfield Princess was only Quinn’s fourth runner at Glorious Goodwood this week, and provided his relatively small stable in Malton with a third winner, finishing three lengths clear of White Lavender after helping to set a strong pace from the off. Quinn’s other runner, meanwhile, finished second, and his final entry of the meeting is Mr Wagyu, a live 16-1 shot for Saturdaytoday’s Stewards’ Cup.
It all adds up to a fine advertisement for Quinn’s undoubted talent, with Highfield Princess, whose long rise through the ranks started in a handicap at Ayr off a mark of 58, the undisputed standard-bearer for the yard. The six-year-old mare had been narrowly beaten on her three previous starts this season, the last two of which were in Group One company at Royal Ascot, but the slight drop in grade on Friday was more than enough to get her back into the winning groove before the Nunthorpe Stakes at York this month.
Last year’s Nunthorpe was the middle leg of a Group One treble for Highfield Princess and her jockey, Jason Hart, last summer and she is now clear favourite at a top price of 2-1 (from 11-4) to double up on the Knavesmire on 25 August.
“All she’s done is improve for racing,” Quinn said, “and she went from being a top-class handicapper into being probably the best sprinting filly in Europe if not the world last year.
“I was very keen for her to get her head in front, for herself, and today will have done her a lot of good. Group Twos are hard to win as well, but we just thought this might be easier [than the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville on Sunday] which we decided to miss.”
A return to the Flying Five at the Curragh, another race that Highfield Princess won last year, is also on her agenda, while an attempt to improve on her fourth place in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in November is also under consideration.
Earlier on the card, Jack Channon enjoyed his most valuable and impressive success since taking over the trainer’s licence at West Ilsley stables from his father, Mick, as Johan defied a wide draw in stall 18 to win the Coral Golden Mile Handicap.
Johan, last year’s Lincoln Handicap winner, was only the third horse this century to win from a double-figure stall, and the first ever winner making its seasonal debut in the race’s 36-year history.
James Doyle, the winner’s jockey, did well to get the 25-1 chance into a prominent position before kicking for home two out and holding the late challenge of The Gatekeeper by half a length.
“It has been a bit of a long road since the Lincoln last year,” Channon said. “We unearthed a bit of an issue with his back midway through last summer, tried a few different things and thanks to our brilliant vets at home, we came up with a solution.
“We got it done in the spring and all summer he has been absolutely starting to just show himself to be the old horse.
“Dad has done it for 30 years and to be able to prove to everyone that you can do it as well, it is a massive monkey off the back. That was a massive team performance from everyone at West Ilsley.”
Speedy Albasheer can lift the Cup
There was little agreement among trainers about the best place to be in Saturday’s Stewards’ Cup at Goodwood when they were given the chance to pick stalls for their runners at the draw ceremony on Thursday – the first three horses out ended up in 20, 14 and six – and recent results on easy ground in recent years also suggest that the winner of the weekend’s big sprint handicap could come from anywhere.
There is plenty of pace among the high-drawn runners, however, with all three horses closest to the stands’ rail – Significantly, Apollo One and Bielsa – likely to be vying for the lead, and that could prove to be an ideal scenario for a hold-up horse like Albasheer (3.35), who is alongside that trio in stall 25.
Archie Watson’s gelding is a five-year-old but is still one of the least exposed runners in the field with nine races in the book, having missed his four-year-old season after showing plenty of promise at two and three, when he was trained by Owen Burrows.
Albasheer finished sixth behind St Mark’s Basilica in the Group One Dewhurst Stakes in 2020, and appeared to retain plenty of talent in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot in June, when he finished within three lengths of the winner.
He was stuck on the wrong part of the track at the Curragh last time but still travelled like a well-handicapped horse, and is an attractive price at around 14-1 to confirm that impression on Saturday.
Goodwood 1.50 Zaman Jemil found significant improvement from his seasonal debut to run out an easy winner at Thirsk last time, a performance that is fully backed up by the clock.
Quick Guide
Greg Wood’s Saturday tips
Show
Goodwood 1.50 Zaman Jemil (nb) 2.25 Sweet William 3.00 River Of Stars 3.35 Albasheer (nap) 4.10 Captain Cuddles 4.45 Devil’s Point 5.20 One Step Beyond
Newmarket 2.05 Say Hello 2.40 Sunset Point 3.15 Intinso 3.50 Zenjabeela 4.25 Kiaraad 5.00 Straits Of Moyle
Doncaster 2.10 Without Flaw 2.45 Cluedo 3.20 Measured Time 3.55 Mountain Warrior 4.30 Blazing Son 5.05 Ey Up Its Jazz
Thirsk 2.15 Jungle Jim 2.50 Lord Bertie 3.25 Razeyna 4.00 Liamarty Dreams 4.35 Ecclesiastical 5.10 Bollin Margaret
Lingfield 5.45 Zabbie 6.15 Ambiente Amigo 6.45 Between The Covers 7.15 Natacata 7.45 Big Bard 8.15 Dark Company
Hamilton 6.00 Temper Trap 6.30 Look Back Smiling 7.00 Impressor 7.30 Elegant Erin 8.00 Ravenscraig Castle 8.30 Jaminoz
Newmarket 2.05 The handicapper has exacted revenge after Say Hello made a mockery of her opening mark of 72 over track and trip last time but the visual impression of her near five-length win was confirmed by a strong time and even a 13lb hike may not be enough to stop her.
Goodwood 2.25 Rab Havlin was able to ease down on Sweet William in the closing stages last time but still had three lengths to spare and John Gosden’s gelding should be able to cope with a 7lb rise in the weights.
Newmarket 2.40 Sunset Point was only sixth of nine on her previous step into Listed company in May but that was on the all-weather and she has progressed steadily back on turf in her two races since.
Goodwood 3.00 Free Wind is top on ratings but looks very short in the betting after a disappointing run at Ascot last time and is also unproven with cut in the ground so second-favourite River Of Stars, less than a length behind the winner in a Group Two in France last time, could be the safer option.
