Jasour 'bang up there' with Clive Cox's best as he targets Richmond Stakes at Glorious Goodwood

Clive Cox believes his July Stakes winner Jasour is "bang up there" with his top juveniles and is plotting a familiar route to Group 1 company in Thursday's Markel Richmond Stakes. 

The Lambourn trainer has taken the Group 2 contest twice with future top-level winners in the last four years. Golden Horde scored in 2019 before landing the Commonwealth Cup as a three-year-old and Supremacy sailed clear at Goodwood before winning the Middle Park Stakes on his next start. 

Jasour took a big step forward from his Nottingham maiden win to run out a two-length winner at Newmarket last time, when he defied market expectations at 16-1, and Cox puts the son of Havana Grey in a similar bracket to his former stable stars.

"I think he's bang up there with those top juveniles I've had potentially," he said. "We've been lucky to have some really nice ones and they're all slightly different but he would be right up there in class. He's an exciting prospect.

"Like most two-year-olds, he's still developing at this stage in his life. He's been changing all the time and still getting stronger. He took a big step forward last time and I'm looking forward to what lies ahead."

Cox is hoping the forecast stays relatively dry for Goodwood, with the Richmond his preferred option ahead of a crack at the Sumbe Prix Morny at Deauville on August 20, a race he won with Reckless Abandon in 2012.

"We entered him at Goodwood and we've got choices," Cox said. "I wouldn't want the ground to get too soft but I'm very pleased with him and he's worked nicely this week, he's come back very well indeed from Newmarket. 

"He has a Group 2 penalty and I'm quite keen on going to Goodwood because it gives us a helpful timeframe towards the Morny. We do have an entry in the Gimcrack, which was made before he won the July Stakes – we had confidence in his ability to have that as a possibility."

Jasour's possible opponents in the Richmond Stakes include July Stakes runner-up Lake Forest, eyecatching Nottingham maiden winner Vandeek and the Karl Burke-trained Kylian, who was an impressive six-length scorer at Listed level three weeks ago. 

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