Oliver Cole’s Dr Rascal provided 23-year-old jockey Kaiya Fraser with a dream first Group victory in the Group Two Coral Vintage Stakes at Goodwood, denying Haffner and Al Hudaiba in a thrilling three-way finish.
The unbeaten son of Sottsass was stepping into Group company after a second career success at Ascot, where he ran loose in the preliminaries before defeating Rising Tiger by two-and-a-quarter lengths.
Settled in midfield for the first two furlongs, Dr Rascal continued to travel strongly under Fraser in the home straight as Haffner and Al Hudaiba were asked to make their challenge against long-time leader Pikachu. With little room on the inside, Fraser made an audacious move up the rail, finding a small gap and continued to rally strongly to the line, repelling the game Haffner in second and Al Hudaiba in third.
The success marked a first Group victory for the winning rider and a 37th of the season.
Vintage Stakes Full result
1st Dr Rascal 13/2
2nd Haffner 4//1
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Post-race reaction
“It’s a big thrill,” Fraser said. “I’m delighted with a first Group winner and in a Group Two on a nice two-year-old, it makes me look forward to the future. I was travelling all over the back of the Amo horse [Pikachu] and the gap was wide enough for me to go through. I knew how much horse I had underneath me after riding him the previous two times and he was brave enough to go and do what I asked him to do.
“This is where everyone wants to be, on the big stage at all the big meetings and winning the big races, so thank God it’s worked out today.”
It was a first Vintage Stakes for Oliver Cole, whose father Paul Cole won the race three times with noted names like Putra, Central Park and Strategic Prince.
“We’ve been unlucky twice now – he got loose at Ascot and his class took him there to win, then again, class has taken him through,” said Cole. “He’s going to get a mile in future and we’ll probably look at the Group One Dewhurst Stakes. He’s definitely going to be stepping up to Group One company for his next run. I was always quietly confident that he was a good horse and I’ve had a lot of faith in him.
“It means a lot, not just for me but the people at home who work so hard.”
Charlie Appleby said of Al Hudaiba: “There are a couple of things really that I think are positive going forward. Will [Buick] did say at Newmarket that he felt the ground was quick enough, and he said coming down the hill here that he could feel it.
“You are always a bit wary when you start getting into the battle and deciding which way you want to go, but in fairness to the horse, he rallied really well. He had the 3lb penalty against a couple of unexposed horses who had broken their maidens and were stepping up to Stakes level. I don’t think he lost too much in defeat, and we were pleased with his attitude. He is the sort of horse we might just go travelling with."
Haffner’s trainer Aidan O’Brien said: “We are very happy – he ran very well. We are not sure about plans for what's next."
Latest betting for the Betfred 2000 Guineas
Paddy Power and Sky Bet introduced Dr Rascal into their 2000 Guineas betting at 33/1.
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