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Goodwood Festival 2009 |
A Misty Finale Fails to Dampen Goodwood's Glorious Spirit
01/08/09
A sea fret brought with it a wet and murky conclusion to what had been an otherwise fantastic five days at Glorious Goodwood but that was not enough to dampen the enthusiasm of racegoers who braved the elements to enjoy a fantastic final day.
An historic third Bluesquare.com Stewards' Cup victory for trainer Roger Charlton with Genki and a popular triumph for Henry Cecil with Midday in the Group One Blue Square Nassau Stakes more than made up for the meeting's misty finale.
Rod Fabricius, Goodwood's managing director, reflected: "It is great to complete another five-day festival. Notwithstanding the bad weather today, I am very happy with the racing we have had throughout the week. It is very disappointing for racegoers that the weather has let us down so badly this afternoon and it says quite a lot, I think, about their enthusiasm that they have put up with the most miserable conditions. Hopefully many of them will have backed a winner.
"Midday was a great success in the Blue Square Nassau Stakes and a wonderful result for Henry Cecil, while it is phenomenal that Roger Charlton has trained his third Bluesquare.com Stewards' Cup winner."
Clerk of the course Seamus Buckley is the man charged with maintaining a racing surface fit for one of the season's biggest events.
He commented: "It has been a fantastic week of racing and I couldn't be more pleased with the wonderful horses we have seen competing and how well the course has stood up to almost 500 runners over the five days.
"It was rather sad to finish the final day in such horrible conditions but the first four days of Glorious Goodwood showed the racecourse in its real guise and highlighted why it is considered to be the most beautiful in the world.
"It was wonderful to have so many good racehorses running here. The competition was fantastic and it is great to be involved in such a wonderful festival of racing."
JOHNSTON TOP TRAINER AND MOORE WINS JOCKEYS’ AWARD
Mark Johnston’s annual trip south for Glorious Goodwood has paid off once again as he takes the honour of being the meeting’s leading trainer with five successes.
Ryan Moore, with five winners, three seconds and four thirds takes the Racing Post-sponsored leading rider award. Frankie Dettori with four winners, a second and third, finishes runner-up.
Moore’s final-day haul was two winners, on Zacinto in the Listed Blue Square Premier Stakes and Stags Leap in the Blue Square EBF Maiden Stakes. Perhaps mindful that Barry Dennis made Zacinto his Bismarck on Channel 4's Morning Line, Moore said: “A few people doubted him today - bad judges I would say because he was far too good for them. I don’t agree with this backing and lay thing - everyone should be trying to tip winners, not lay them.
“He’s a lovely horse and was unfortunate to be beaten in the Champagne Stakes last year when the ground was sticky. He was in front too soon and a bit green and Westphalia just nutted him. He had a few issues after that race, but he’s been brought along steadily and there’s more to come. He’ll be better on faster ground.
“Stags Leap has obviously come on a lot for his first run. He travelled behind the leaders and was a bit green when he hit the front, but running into rain and fog is not easy for a two-year-old of so little experience. You have to get on with the conditions - it’s hard to see what’s going on and you can’t pick up the marker poles, but it’s okay. Fortunately I was in the right place today and it’s worked out.
“Harbinger was really smooth on the first day and Kingsgate Native picked up extremely well [in the Audi Stakes], although I was kind of disappointed with Main Aim [in the Befair Cup]. Five winners has been nice, although I expected to win a couple more.”
Moore, who was born and raised in Sussex - his father, Gary, is a trainer based at Brighton - takes the title for the second time, having ridden five winners in 2007.
His winners this week have been: Harbinger (Betfair Gordon Stakes), Manyriverstocross (Detica Summer Handicap), Kingsgate Native (Audi Stakes), Zacinto (Blue Square Premier Stakes) and Stags Leap (Blue Square EBF Maiden Stakes).
Johnston, a Scot who is based in Yorkshire, seems equally at home on the Sussex Downs for he has now won Glorious Goodwood’s top trainer title on no fewer than seven occasions.
He trained his first winner at the course in May 1991 and has now compiled a tally of 47 winners at Glorious Goodwood. That makes him the joint-fourth most successful trainer at Glorious Goodwood, level with Richard Hannon who enjoyed three victories this week.
RACING POST GLORIOUS GOODWOOD LEADING RIDER AWARD - FINAL POSITIONS
JOCKEYS 1ST 2ND 3RD
RYAN MOORE 5 3 4
Frankie Dettori 4 1 1
Jimmy Fortune 3 2 3
Richard Hughes 2 4 2
Jim Crowley 2 2 2
Tom Queally 2 1 -
Greg Fairley 2 - 2
Neil Callan 2 - -
Martin Dwyer 1 4 -
Adam Kirby 1 1 -
Steve Drowne 1 1 -
Tadhg O’Shea 1 - 1
Jamie Spencer 1 - 1
Chris Catlin 1 - -
Graham Gibbons 1 - -
Tony Hamilton 1 - -
Liam Jones 1 - -
Nicky Lawes 1 - -
Richard Mullen 1 - -
Johnny Murtagh 1 - -
Franny Norton 1 - -
Michael Hills - 3 -
Alan Munro - 3 -
Adrian Nicholls - 2 3
William Buick - 2 2
Paul Hanagan - 1 1
Richard Hills - 1 1
Philip Robinson - 1 1
William Carson - 1 -
Matthew Davies - 1 -
James Millman - 1 -
Royston Ffrench - - 2
Eddie Ahern - - 1
Edward Creighton - - 1
Tony Culhane - - 1
Dale Gibson - - 1
Dean Heslop - - 1
Barry McHugh - - 1
Jimmy Quinn - - 1
Amy Scott - - 1
Hayley Turner - - 1
LEADING TRAINERS - FINAL POSITIONS
TRAINERS 1ST 2ND 3RD
MARK JOHNSTON 5 - 4
Richard Hannon 3 3 1
Sir Michael Stoute 3 1 1
Saeed bin Suroor 2 1 1
David Nicholls 2 4 3
Henry Cecil 2 - -
Richard Fahey 1 1 2
Clive Cox 1 1 1
William Muir 1 1 -
Roger Charlton 1 - 1
Luca Cumani 1 - -
James Fanshawe 1 - -
Michael Jarvis 1 - -
Alan King 1 - -
William Knight 1 - -
Ed McMahon 1 - -
Brian Meehan 1 - -
Willie Musson 1 - -
Aidan O’Brien IRE 1 - -
Amanda Perrett 1 - -
Jamie Poulton 1 - -
David Simcock 1 - -
Bryan Smart 1 - -
Marcus Tregoning 1 - -
Paul Cole - 4 -
John Gosden - 3 1
Barry Hills - 3 1
Andrew Balding - 1 2
John Dunlop - 1 1
James Bethell - 1 -
Peter Chapple-Hyam - 1 -
James Given - 1 -
Rod Millman - 1 -
Terry Mills - 1 -
Gary Moore - 1 -
Stan Moore - 1 -
Hughie Morrison - 1 -
Jonjo O’Neill - 1 -
Lucy Wadham - 1 -
Ian Williams - 1 -
Mick Channon - - 6
Michael Bell - - 2
Jeremy Noseda - - 2
Eric Alston - - 1
David Barron - - 1
Henry Candy - - 1
Alan Jarvis - - 1
Jamie Osborne - - 1
Peter Winkworth - - 1
