John Gosden on his 2025 Qatar Goodwood Festival chances

SussexWorld

Transcript

00:00We start with day one, the feature race is the Group 1 Alshakab Goodwood Cup.

00:04You've two intended runners at the moment, and if we start with Sweet William, how's he been since Royal Ascot?

00:08He's been in very good form. I mean, he broke well, he was up in what was a tough race,

00:14and in the end, it was a little too far for him.

00:17Funny, he's a two-mile to two-and-a-quarter-mile horse.

00:20The two-and-a-half was just a little bit too far for him.

00:23But he ran a brave race, but he's in very good form, worked nicely yesterday.

00:28Rab Havlin rides him every day, he's very pleased with him.

00:31We hope he'll run a huge race.

00:33It's a track that, the idiosyncrasies of the track rather amuse Sweet William, he rather likes it.

00:38And obviously, he'll be looking at a Doncaster Cup, which he won last year, later on.

00:42But the great thing about these old Cup horses, they're there every year,

00:46in a sense, like the top national hunt horses.

00:49And they get a huge following, and he certainly has that.

00:53And he's owned by Philippa Cooper, who's been a great supporter of the yard.

00:57And she's also the former owner of French Master, your other recruit for this race.

01:02Slightly different profile coming out of Royal Ascot after winning the Copper Horse Handicap.

01:06How do you think he'll fare with the step-up and trip and the step-up in class as well?

01:10I think the step-up and trip will be within his range, yes.

01:14And, you know, the two miles of Goodwood is a little up and down and twist and turn.

01:18And it's not like a relentless, similarly, two-mile.

01:22I think he is a horse who'll rise to the occasion.

01:26Obviously, he won in good style.

01:29But, as you say, he's going from a handicap in a rating band into a completely open Group 1.

01:36We're hopeful he'll run a good race.

01:38He did a little breeze with Sweet William yesterday.

01:40There wasn't much between them, just nicely on the bridle.

01:43We're very much looking forward to running him, seeing the jumping class, whether he can handle it.

01:48But the great thing is, if he doesn't, we can regroup on it.

01:51But he's been nothing but an entertaining horse to train at home.

01:55His style in winning at Goodwood, he won the race that actually Koros Monomi won as his platform to go into the Gold Cup.

02:04So we've used that race before.

02:05I think, you know, if he runs a big race and that's what it's about, he's a horse who's hopefully on the way up.

02:11He's not the finished article yet.

02:14And another group contest on day one is the Group 2 Whirlpool Lennox Stakes.

02:18You've two horses potentially aiming for this race, one being last year's winner audience.

02:23How is he this season?

02:24We send him down to Dubai, which might not have been the smartest move in the world, and running him over six.

02:30He's well in himself, he's happy, he enjoys the track.

02:34I think if he gets a reasonable draw, I think he'll run a big race again.

02:38And could we see Spy Chief in the same race?

02:40Yes, you could.

02:41He was beaten, what, two and a half lengths in the July Cup.

02:44He's not a six furlong horse.

02:46He's in good form running over the seven.

02:49I think the seven furlongs is going to be right up his alley.

02:51And he's come out of the July Cup pretty well then?

02:53Yeah, he has indeed.

02:54He has a horse who likes to do what he wants to do, not necessarily what the trainer or the jockey wants to do,

03:01but he's got a lot of what they term raw speed.

03:05And on to the Wednesday, it's a big highlight of the week, I think, for a lot of people with the Group 1 Visit Qatar Sussex Stakes.

03:11You've two stable stars heading to this race, and we'll start with the obvious in Fielder Gold.

03:16He's been exceptional this season.

03:18Yeah, he has.

03:18He's been a grand horse to train.

03:21He got a little bit stuck in the mud last back end in France, but he's done nothing but thrive this year

03:30and been pleased with his progress all the way through.

03:33The Sussex is a different test of a horse.

03:36If you've ever walked the track, it's quite a surprise.

03:39It runs down into a dip, swing up, round.

03:42And the fact that the starting gate, you don't want too big a field and get a high draw

03:46because you are literally down a hill looking at the horses getting the shortest run round up the hill.

03:52So the draw is a big factor there if you get a large field.

03:56But look, the horse is athletic.

03:58He's got great balance and hopefully he'll handle the track well.

04:01It's very, very different to the round mile of Ascot or the Curragh, that's for sure.

04:07It's very much the obvious race to go to for him.

04:10He does have that great turn of foot, and let's hope we get a clear run and he can produce it on the day.

04:16And you also have the Group 1 Lockinge winner, lead artist.

04:19He is a winner at the track. He won at last year's meeting.

04:22How is he doing?

04:23He's in great form. I mean, we'll see if he runs as well.

04:25No decision on that yet, but he bowled along there last year and won in good style.

04:32And we're not sure if they'll both run at this stage.

04:35Obviously, we're a little far off from the race yet.

04:38Yeah.

04:39Yeah.

04:41Oh yeah.

04:43I'm embarrassing.

04:46Oh okay yeah.

04:48That was awesome.

04:49Oh yeah.

04:52Oh yeah.

04:55Oh yeah.

04:57You know oh.

04:57You know what that was great.

05:00I've said oh yeah.

05:01I've done done it as well.

05:02I've proven it as well.

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