James Doyle picked the right one from three choices as his bosses at Wathnan Racing topped an amazing week at Glorious Goodwood with victory in the Coral Stewards’ Cup with Evening Saigon.
The win was a feather in the cap for the owners, who target this fixture with a vengeance, but perhaps more telling it was a second major handicap of the week for Qatari-born trainer Hamad Al Jehani.
Having also won the Golden Mile with Archivist when Doyle picked the wrong one, Al Jehani was able to celebrate a famous victory with the whole team on this occasion.
Despite higher numbers being preferred at Thursday’s draw, the finish was dominated by the eventual winner drawn in 10 beating Stratusnine in five. Jamie Spencer flew from the back on Mitbaahy for third but he was beaten a head and a short head. Completely Random was fourth.
“It’s been a great week. Obviously I was very deflated last year with just one and we were really frustrated by that so the memo was we need to do better and that’s everyone, including me as well,” said Doyle.
“We’ve done a lot of work this week looking at different tactics and things like that, track position and stuff. All the guys back home in the office, these guys, Hamad has done an unbelievable job with this horse as well.
“He’s not an easy conveyance, setting off he was that well in himself he tried to get rid of me the first few strides but that was great.
“We just had the perfect set-up. Dark Thirty was near me, I was able to draft in behind him and we didn’t go that mad I didn’t think for a Stewards’ Cup so I was happy to pull him out before the two and set sail for home.
“I knew the second horse, I won on him the other day at York, he’s a pretty decent horse too so it was a good tussle up to the line.
“Hamad and his team, it’s nice that they have won the two big handicaps this week.”
Al Jehani said: “I am very happy for Evening Saigon and very happy for the team. He performed very well at Royal Ascot and it was the right decision from the management to keep him for the Stewards’ Cup.
“It’s really important for us and it’s a really important race for the season. I’m very happy and thanks to James for giving the horse a great ride.
“It’s not easy to be competitive with the best trainers in the world but we try our best and I think we are building in a very good way, with great help from the management. Hopefully, we will improve year by year and we can make Wathnan be in the winner’s enclosure more and more.”
Wathnan’s racing advisor Richard Brown added: “James had a bit of a hard choice but he was pretty firm on riding this lad in the end. Hamad has turned up and won two of the hardest handicaps to win all year. We plot these and work as a team – when these results come off, it’s just fantastic for Wathnan and what Wathnan is all about.
“If you look at Hamad’s statistics since he started training, they match up with the best trainers in the country. He’s a phenomenal horseman and was a very good rider himself. He’s very modest about it but he showjumped to a good level. He’s a great horseman and he’s formed a great team. We all work very closely together and to pull this off is huge for everybody involved.”
Goodie Two Shoes sticks her neck out to edge Lillie Langtry battle
Goodie Two Shoes needed to be very brave as she added to Joseph O’Brien and Dylan Browne McMonagle’s fantastic week at Goodwood in the Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes.
With three winners already in the bag, the JP McManus-owned Goodie Two Shoes was sent off an 8/1 chance to bag a first victory of the season but looked to face a tough ask as Santorini Star kicked for home.
She still had ground to make up with 100 yards to the line but the seven-year-old stuck her neck out right where it mattered to get the verdict by a nose.
Goodie Two Shoes (centre), ridden by Dylan Browne McMonagle, on the way to winning the Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes at Goodwood
Goodie Two Shoes was second in the Melbourne Cup in November and a return to Australia will surely now be on the cards following this Group Two triumph.
The winning rider said: “She’s a lovely filly, she’s improving all the time since she started coming back this year, she’s got better with each run.
“I was quietly confident she would get a lot closer to these fillies, she ran well last year [third] when the ground turned up soft but she would gallop down the road for you, she handles quick ground. I got a lovely split through them and she wanted to win.
“To be honest I didn’t think I’d won but I looked back at the camera and she had her head stuck down for me at the right time; I did think Tom (Marquand) had won but we came out the right side of it.
“These are very, very special silks to put on. A big thanks to JP for putting me up and she’s going to have a nice campaign through to the end of the season.
“I’m sure the Melbourne Cup is probably the main target, the boys will know that and Joseph and JP will discuss it but I’d probably guess that’s the obvious target.”
Sir Anthony McCoy, representing McManus, said: “I didn’t think she had won but Jason Weaver said right on the nod, not before the line or after the line but right on the line, she put her head in the right place.
“She got a good ride – he was going to ride her for that bit of luck, down the inside, and he got a lot of luck. When you are as good as Dylan Browne McMonagle and you are riding for Joseph O’Brien, you seem to get a lot of luck.
“Dylan was over at mine a few times when he was 11 or 12. He is very mechanically correct, like Ryan Moore, and he’s got that chip – that little thing where he could go the wrong way. I mean it in a good way. As Frankie found out one day at Ascot, he has that little edge to him.
“She was second in a Melbourne Cup and I thought she had been quite well handicapped for the Galway Plate if she ran there off 123. It’s nice when you win races like this and hopefully she will be able to go back to the Melbourne Cup.”
