Stradivarius storms to win Qatar Goodwood Cup

Stradivarius, with a 13lb weight allowance from the older horses, won the Group One Qatar Goodwood Cup  (GR1) for trainer John Gosden and owner-breeder Bjorn Nielsen on the opening day of the Qatar Goodwood Festival, at the Goodwood Racecourse in West Sussex, England yesterday.
The Qatar Goodwood Festival, popularly known as ‘Glorious Goodwood’, opened with a winner for Queen Elizabeth II, but only after lots of drama and a stewards’ enquiry.
 Her horse, Fabricate, shot trained by Michael Bell, was beaten a head by bottom-weight Dark Red, but the last-named horse veered to his left in the closing stages and bumped the runner-up. Adam Kirby, who rode Fabricate, was convinced the result would be reversed, and that proved to be the case. Third-placed Khairaat was beaten a further three-quarters of a length.
Earlier, Breton Rock came fast and very late to mow down his rivals and land the G2 Qatar Lennox Stakes for trainer David Simcock and owner John Cook.
 Jockey Andrea Atzeni, completing a 139/1 double initiated in the previous race on Expert Eye, overcame an outside draw by sitting in behind his rivals and then asking Breton Rock to accelerate wide in the final furlong. The response was electric as the horse went from first to last, finishing with such power that he won by half a length and a short-head from Home Of The Brave and Suedois.
It is rare that Sir Michael Stoute uses such words as ‘exciting’ and ‘promising’ about one of his two-year-olds, but he slipped in a couple following victory for Expert Eye in the G2 Qatar Vintage Stakes.
Expert Eye, a favourite, owned and bred by Khalid Abdullah and ridden by Andrea Atzeni, romped to an easy win, scoring by four and a half lengths and three-quarters of a length from Zaman and Mildenberger . The winner was making his second appearance having won on debut at Newbury in June.
Sir Michael, who had just trained his 181st Goodwood winner, and his 76th at the Qatar Festival, said: “He’s an exciting horse, and while I don’t know where we will go next we’ll be ambitious. I’d like to go the next step before talking about Classics.
Commenting on the successful kick-off of the prestigious festival, Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club (QREC) General Manager, Nasser bin Sherida Al Kaabi said: “Day one of the Qatar Goodwood Festival came as expected in terms of strong performance and successful organisation. Eespecially as the Festival has become a landmark in the UK’s racing scene.”
“The Group 1 Qatar International Stakes for pure Arabians will be run tomorrow. It is the first leg of the Doha Triple Crown. We wish Qatar’s horses all the best in this race, especially as the running of a race for pure Arabians at this time of the Festival every year promotes this type of racing and presents an opportunity for pure Arabian horse owners to participate in more races and compete for the first place in each race,” Al Kaabi said.
QREC Board Member, Khalid bin Mohammed Al Ali said: “Qatar’s sponsorship of this prestigious festival has contributed to much success.”