Markel Richmond Stakes
Group 2, Goodwood 14:25
£175,000 guaranteed,
2yo only,
6f, Class 1   
Thursday 1st August 2024

SureWIn

1 Black Forza 9/1
2 The Strikin Viking 11/10F
3 Intrusively 40/1
9 ran Distances: ½l, ¾l, nk
Time: 1m 9.97s (fast by 0.13s)

Irish raider Black Forza stamped himself as a two-year-old with a bright future as he came fast and late to win.

He was nearer last than first for much of the six-furlong contest but produced a good turn of foot to collar 11/10 favourite The Strikin Viking close home. The winning margin was half a length, with Intrusively also arriving late to take third, a further three-quarters of a length behind.

The son of Complexity became a first success at the Qatar Goodwood Festival for jockey Dylan Browne McMonagle and a second for trainer Michael O’Callaghan.

Owned by Eleanora Kennedy and bred in the USA, Black Forza was bought for £220,000 at Doncaster’s breeze-up sale in April and won a maiden at Fairyhouse last time out. 

O’Callaghan, who won the 2020 Molecomb Stakes with Steel Bull, said: “Fantastic – to win the Richmond is very special. This is a horse we bought at the breeze-ups. Goodwood has been lucky for us; I didn’t get to be here when Steel Bull won the Molecomb. For this horse to come here was kind of the plan even before he won his maiden, the loose plan. He’s a talented colt who loves that ground. He was flat out for the first half of the race and was just getting going at the line – he hit the line very strong. He’ll be better in a better race. We’ll enjoy today first and then make some plans.

“I think he just had a bit of class, more than raw pace. He wasn’t the fastest horse in the breeze-ups – he was maybe top 30 or 40, he wasn’t slow by any means, but it was my favourite breeze; he’s a very good mover, and it takes class to see out a race where they go very quick.

“I would be hopeful that he will get seven furlongs in time, and maybe, he might get a mile round a turn. He’s an American-bred horse – we’ll see how the rest of the year goes. You’re always taking a chance buying a dirt-bred horse to go on grass, particularly by a first-season sire. But it’s all worked out.”

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McMonagle said: “It's my first ride here so I've got off to a good start! These are the kind of meetings you want to be riding winners at and a massive thanks to Michael and connections for giving me the leg up on this fella.

“Black Forza is a top-quality colt. He is improving and I still think he's going to come on a lot again. Stamina was never going to be a problem for us. He jumped fine and, after talking to Seamie Heffernan on the last day, we just felt that a little bit of cover would be the key to getting him relaxed in the first half.

“He came home good for me. I was kind of outpaced for the first half to be honest, but I knew they were never going to keep going the speed they were and he quickened up good when I needed him.”

Wathnan Racing’s Richard Brown said of the runner-up: “First of all, we are delighted with The Strikin Viking. He was a short-priced favourite and of course you want to win, but James just got off and said, if he could have another crack at it, he would have held on to him a bit longer. He knows the horse now, which will be a big advantage going forward. He put a couple of lengths on them pretty quickly, idled and then he didn’t see the winner coming. 

“I am sure there is a big day in him. He was in the Vintage Stakes and we luckily dodged that, as James said he has the pace for five furlongs. I imagine a fast six furlongs at York will be right up his alley. I hate making plans straight after a race but, literally, he hadn’t pulled up and I was thinking Gimcrack Stakes.”

Assistant trainer James Bethell said of Intrusively: “The track didn't suit him and he was a bit slowly away. Hollie [Doyle] said he took a bit of organising coming down the hill. When he was able to run on, he did it well. He is not in the Gimcrack Stakes but seven furlongs will suit him better.”

SureWIn

Richmond Stakes (Group 2)
£175,000 guaranteed, 2yo only, 6f, Class 1
9 ran
Going: Good to Firm

POS. (DRAW) DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 (5)     Black Forza 2 9-2 M D O'Callaghan Dylan Browne McMonagle 9/1
2 (6) ½ The Strikin Viking 2 9-2 Hamad Al Jehani James Doyle 11/10F
3 (7) ¾ Intrusively 2 9-2 Edward Bethell Hollie Doyle 40/1
4 (8) nk Billboard Star 2 9-2 Eve Johnson Houghton Charles Bishop 6/1
5 (3) ¾ The Waco Kid 2 9-2 Hugo Palmer Ryan Moore 14/1
6 (9) ¾ Big Cyril 2 9-2 Alice Haynes Kieran O'Neill 33/1
7 (1) nse King Of Bears 2 9-2 Paul & Oliver Cole Hector Crouch 18/1
8 (4) ¾ Tropical Storm 2 9-2 Andrew Balding Oisin Murphy 9/2
9 (2) 2¼ Aparajeo 2 9-2 Clive Cox Rossa Ryan 16/1

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