John Gosden - Stradivarius: “He seems to love his training still, he still seems to love his racing. He can be very naughtily behaved beforehand and think he’s in the covering shed – not at the racecourse – but when it comes to the race and he gets down to the start, he can look at a mare and think ‘OK, I’ve a job to do’.
“He worked on the July Course last week and I was very happy with him. Touch wood, we’re ready to go again. He has been remarkable. He has this exciting turn of foot. I think the toughest race of his life was his first Gold Cup against the great French stayer (Vazirabad), but overall I think his record stands up.
“His win in the Sagaro was tidy, pleasant, he (Frankie Dettori) didn’t ask him too much so let’s hope he’s ready for the big one again. I’d like to get through Thursday before deciding what next. I know where he (owner Bjorn Nielsen) would like to run, but there’s nothing wrong with five Goodwood Cups is there!”
“I fear one thing for Stradivarius – thunderstorms – because he has this wonderful turn of foot after two and a half miles but the wet ground, soft ground, blunts it, so we’ll see how we go “I’ve got a lot of respect for the new boy on the block, Subjectivist, and a lot of respect for Alan King’s horse (Trueshan), although he would prefer a downpour. There’s no doubt Subjectivist adds a lot of spice to the race.”
Mark Johnston - Subjectivist: “He did have an injury in that Dubai race. It’s taken him a little while to come back from that and as a result we haven’t had any race in between. I think this is the best horse I’ve gone to war with Stradivarius with. We know what a tall order that is – we’ve finished second to him so many times before. I won’t be looking at tactics to beat Stradivarius, we’ve just got to hope that we’ve got the best horse on the day.”
Mark Johnston - Nayef Road: "He is going to Ascot on the back of two disappointing performances, but while his second in the Gold Cup last year was with cut in the ground, we had previously always thought he was better on fast ground. We are hopeful that on better ground we’ll see him back to his best, although there’s obviously some rain forecast on Thursday so we have to be prepared for that.”
Alan King - Trueshan: “He’s been declared, but we are very reliant on thunderstorms hitting Ascot. He’s in great nick and I couldn’t be happier with him, but if it doesn’t rain he doesn’t run. It will have to go to good, or good to soft.”
Aidan O’Brien - Serpentine: "Obviously we won’t know if he stays the trip until he runs over it, but we always thought he’d stay further than a mile and a half. He seems to be in good form at home, he’s had a run this season and we’re hoping he’ll run well.”
Aidan OBrien - Santiago: “He is in good form and this has always been the plan for him. He’s had his two runs already this season and we’ve been happy with him since his last run at York,” said O’Brien.
Andrew Balding - Spanish Mission: “I’m really pleased with Spanish Mission. I thought it was a really good effort at York, but he faces some mighty opponents here in the likes of Stradivarius, Subjectivist, and Santiago, not to mention Serpentine, who I wasn’t expecting,” said Balding.
“It’s a really intriguing race, as a Gold Cup should be, but Spanish Mission is in great form. It’s another two furlongs further than the Doncaster Cup, which he won last year, but I’d be hopeful that he’ll stay.”
