Chachamaidee brings up Cecil and Queally double
Report: Glorious Goodwood, Tuesday
bet365 Lennox Stakes (Group 2) 3yo+, 7f
CHACHAMAIDEE completed a quickfire double for Sir Henry Cecil and Tom Queally as she went one better than at Royal Ascot in the feature race on the opening day of Glorious Goodwood.
RELATED LINKS
The mare was settled at the rear of the field by Queally and she made headway down the outside before swooping into the lead well over a furlong from home.
Richard Hughes tried to make inroads into her lead on Libranno late on but was not able to get any closer than a length and a half at the line. The veteran Mac Love finished well to be just behind in third.
Despite no filly or mare winning the race since it was moved to Goodwood at the start of the century, Chachamaidee was sent off the 5-4 favourite having found just one too good in the Windsor Forest Stakes on her last outing.
Dropping back a furlong here played perfectly to her strengths and she trumped her six rivals convincingly to give Cecil a second win in this race in the last three years.
Queally, who had taken the Gordon Stakes on stablemate Noble Mission earlier on the card, said: "She was a little bit slowly away and they went a lovely gallop it suited us for where I was. She has got a lovely turn of foot."
Damian Evans, racing manager to Tony Evans, owner of Chachamaidee, said: "Her ideal trip is seven but she can do a mile on her day or a less stiff course. Ascot maybe has found her out twice over a mile.
"We were in the Rothschild last Sunday but decided we didn't fancy Elusive Kate, Golden Lilac and Immortal Verse, we thought we would come here but she is in the Matron at Leopardstown over a mile in the summer and the Foret is one that may be on the list. That's where the value and experience of Sir Henry comes in."
Libranno was biding to give Richard Hannon back-to-back wins in this race following the success of Strong Suit last year and the champion trainer said: "I don't think we were unlucky, the winner has got first run but she's done it easily enough. We had a bit of trouble and without it we would have been a better second but I don't think he'd have won. The race panned out like we thought and he's ran a corker."
It is almost three years since Mac Love last got his head in front but he ran a blinder in defeat here.
His trainer Roger Charlton said: "That was amazing. I looked and he was a 40-1, I thought is he that bad? He can't be. If there was an excuse James [Doyle] said he would have preferred it firm but that was a great run.
"He ran in this race six year ago behind Iffraaj - that horse has been at stud for four years. If James had come back and said he hated it then we would have called it a day but he loves it and we will continue to look at similar races."
Comments