Glorious Goodwood Saturday: What the trainers say including David Menuisier on Wonderful Tonight
Views from connections of some of the leading contenders on the fifth and final day of the Qatar Goodwood Festival.
3.05 Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes
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David Menuisier is determined to view Wonderful Tonight’s Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes opponents with due respect as he prepares the rerouted favourite for her Group Two assignment at Goodwood.
Wonderful Tonight is sure to go off a much shorter price on Saturday than she would have if, as was initially intended, she had taken on Adayar et al in last weekend’s King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.
Quick ground scuppered that plan, with Menuisier’s dual Group One and Royal Ascot heroine a late absentee and instead set to take her chance in a nine-strong field on the final day of the Goodwood Festival.
She is the red-hot favourite, ahead of the likes of Ralph Beckett’s Albaflora, Roger Varian’s Believe In Love and Aidan O’Brien’s Irish Oaks runner-up Divinely, the only three-year-old participant.
Albaflora is second best in most bookmakers’ lists yet was six lengths adrift of Wonderful Tonight when Menuisier’s stable star made her winning return in the Hardwicke Stakes last month.
Wonderful Tonight must concede 3lb and upwards all round – but at the weights and on ratings, only Divinely has a theoretical advantage.
Menuisier said: “The opposition obviously is not the same as the King George, but they have to be respected.
“I haven’t gone into great detail as to the horses left in the race – but there’s a three-year-old carrying next to no weight, which is something you can’t discard.”
He acknowledges Wonderful Tonight has an obvious opportunity to extend her winning sequence to four, but is not inclined to take anything for granted.
“She’s the favourite and she should be, but we’re not going there thinking she’s a sure thing, nothing (else) can happen,” added the Sussex trainer.
“It’s a horse race, and we know Goodwood offers some upsets at times. It’s not a track where you want to be tanking too much, especially over a mile-six. There’s no certainty in life, apart from deaths and taxes – and that applies to any race, including this one.
“I’m not here to put a dampener on it because on sheer ability, there’s no race. But I just want to make sure everybody’s aware that we are going there very humbly.”
Wonderful Tonight has a string of Group One entries next month and beyond – including the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in October – and with that potential programme in mind, Menuisier pencilled in a mid-summer target.
“She’s a bit buzzy, because she went to Ascot and had to come back,” he said.
“But other than that she’s fine. I treat the filly the same for both races. She’s well and she needs to run. It’s important she runs at the end of July, and it didn’t happen last weekend That’s the main point – she needs to run somewhere, because she’s really well and fit.
“I don’t want to deceive her by going back home and keep on working her there to get the freshness out of her without racing.”
Goodwood is beginning to dry out after the downpours early this week – which will not be to the obvious advantage of Wonderful Tonight, who has excelled in testing conditions. Menuisier concedes she is unlikely to be right at her best on good ground, but he will not shy away from it.
“Obviously we’re still hoping for some rain before Saturday to keep it on the slow side – because it’s drying out quickly,” he said.
“Good ground would be OK – and if we don’t get any more rain I think that’s what it will be. I just know that on quicker ground she can’t reach the levels she does on soft, so then it is a question of opposition. On quicker ground she may not run up to (her rating of) 117.”
O’Brien’s Divinely was second to stablemate Snowfall in the Irish Oaks having also run well in the Oaks at Epsom and the Ribblesdale at Royal Ascot.
Given the three-year-olds have been taking full advantage of the weight-for-age concession in the big races recently, O’Brien will be hoping the 15lb she receives is enough.
“She has developed into a very solid, classy filly and now has two Classic-placed performances to her name after chasing home Snowfall in the Irish Oaks last time, albeit at a respectful distance,” her jockey Ryan Moore told Betfair.
“She operates on any ground, so the weather can do what it wants, and you have to like her chances as the only three-year-old in here getting a hefty 12lb from most, and 15lb from Wonderful Tonight.
“But you obviously have to say Wonderful Tonight is the one to beat in here after that Hardwicke win last time, even though she picked up a 3lb penalty for it, especially if we get more rain.”
3.40 Unibet Stewards' Cup
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Charlie Fellowes is heading into the ultra-competitive Unibet Stewards’ Cup with two live chances as Chiefofchiefs and new recruit Ejtilaab line up for the Newmarket handler.
Chiefofchiefs has been a standing dish in races of this nature for a few seasons but bar a win in the Silver Wokingham, has a string of hard luck stories to his name.
On the other hand, Ejtilaab had been making great strides for Ian Williams before being moved to Fellowes recently and following wins at Epsom and Newcastle, he will be sent off among the favourites.
“I don’t know much about Ejtilaab, I’ve done very little with him,” said Fellowes. “He’s a good-looking horse and you’d think the track would suit him as he’s won over six at Epsom. Hopefully they’ll go a good gallop.
“We’ve never run Chiefofchiefs at Goodwood. He’s been a bit unlucky this year as the rain has come on both his starts and although he has form on soft, I’m certain he’s better on a sounder surface. I wouldn’t want too much rain for him. He loves a big field, he’s a very talented horse and he could go well.”
The draw is always a huge talking point in these big sprints and Fellowes’ pair were both drawn out early, with the trainer choosing 25 for Ejtilaab and 19 for Chiefofchiefs.
“We went high with both of them because a lot of early pace came out high and there’s not a huge amount of pace in the race, so we wanted to follow where the speedier horses were. Luckily a few of the forward-going horses went high,” said Fellowes.
David Menuisier’s Atalanta’s Boy is definitely a course specialist as a four-times distance winner at Goodwood, but his only defeat in Sussex came in this race 12 months ago.
“Apart from the Stewards’ Cup, he’s unbeaten at Goodwood – and I think the course-and-distance record is very important there,” said Menuisier.
“He missed the break in the race badly last year, (but) I’d like to think if he gets away this time he’d run a massive race. He’s all fine. At Epsom (in June), the track didn’t suit him.
“Even though he’s a Goodwood specialist, Epsom is quite different because you go downhill straightaway on the turn – and that’s the thing he didn’t like.
“Then the last day at Windsor, he did what he has done once or twice in the past (got left), which is very infuriating. We’ve been trying to work on this to make sure it doesn’t happen.
“But he’s six, so it doesn’t always apply with horses of that age. So we’ll keep our fingers firmly crossed he doesn’t do it again. He’ll have a bit of help in the starting stalls, which I hope might make the difference.”
Richard Fahey last won the race in 1998 with Superior Premium, one of his first major winners. This year he runs Mr Lupton, a stable stalwart and winner of over £660,000 in prize money. He will break from stall two.
“I shouldn’t really say this, but I’ve seen tougher Stewards’ Cups, so hopefully we’ve done well with the draw. Mr Lupton is in good form and we’re hopeful of a good performance,” said Fahey.
“Everyone went high early on in the draw and then there was a difference of opinion in terms of going low. I didn’t want to be in the middle so that’s why I went low. I think everything in racing is luck and what you don’t need in racing is bad luck.”
Mark Johnston’s pair of Desert Safari and Meraas were the first two out of the hat and he went high with both.
“Obviously a lot of people went for high numbers early on. I didn’t choose the rail as there is a danger when you’re on the rail that you can get stuck out and trapped in behind when the field come across in front of you.” said Johnston.
“I opted for 26 with Desert Safari and 24 with Meraas. Both horses are in good form. Desert Safari is not a horse who is going to be up towards the pace, so he will possibly have traffic problems and hopefully he can extricate himself.
“I’ve never won the Stewards’ Cup and generally these are not my favourite races as lady luck plays such a key part in it. I prefer races where the form outs.”
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