Stradivarius and Dettori face huge challenge against Irish Derby hero Santiago

Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup Stakes (Group 1)| 2m | 3yo+ | ITV/RTV

John Gosden describes the clash of staying generations between Stradivarius and Santiago as fascinating, though a quirk of the calendar makes it a little more finely balanced than when Bjorn Nielsen's brilliant chestnut recorded the first of his three Goodwood Cup wins.

Stradivarius was the new kid on the block in 2017. The three-year-old bounced out of the newly-truncated Queen's Vase to take advantage of the weight-for-age allowance to tackle the established order at two miles in the Goodwood Cup.

Santiago is on the same road in 2020 but with two potentially crucial differences: just eight days after Ascot he became a Classic winner with success in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby and he receives an extra 2lb allowance from Stradivarius, owing to their meeting before the end of July.

"If the race was run on August 1, he'd be giving [Santiago] 13lb," said Gosden. "Because it's run at the end of July, he's giving 15lb to a horse who won stylishly in the Vase and went on to win an Irish Derby. That's a big ask for Stradivarius to give 15lb over two miles.

"We are perfectly aware of the task in hand and we ourselves took advantage of the three-year-old allowance when Big Orange conceded 13lb a few years ago. He will have to be at the top of his game."

Despite being the age of six, time is showing no signs of catching up with Stradivarius after landing a third Gold Cup at Ascot by the small matter of ten lengths last month. And if the race conditions make life tough, Gosden believes the 'Goodwood factor' may do plenty to level the playing field.

"I think it's a really fascinating contest and we'll see how the old boy feels about it," said Gosden. "Our fellow likes the track and handles it."

Stradivarius is 'jumping around the place' according to regular partner Frankie DettoriCredit: Getty Images

Dettori is in no doubt that Stradivarius is in as good a form as ever. "I see my old boy every morning and he's in tremendous form, jumping around the place," said Dettori. "You know him, he always gives you 100 per cent.

"Obviously 15lb is a lot [to give away]. Santiago's an Irish Derby winner so you've got to respect him."

Aidan O'Brien's Capri, Order Of St George and Kew Gardens have all lowered the colours of Stradivarius since his emergence as a stayer of real quality during the summer of 2017, but in Santiago he fields something slightly different from the standard Ballydoyle challenger – he is by Authorized, an almost guaranteed source of stamina and beloved of jumps breeders before his departure to Turkey.

Santiago (left) holds off stablemate Tiger Moth to land the Irish DerbyCredit: Caroline Norris

While it is still hard to discern a pecking order between the O'Brien three-year-olds, Santiago's ability to win a Classic on the way to this test adds to the theory put forward by Gosden that he is as big a threat as Stradivarius has faced.

"We've always thought this race would suit him well and he's been in good form since the Irish Derby," said O'Brien, who unusually didn't have a runner in this year's Gold Cup.

"He's stepping up to two miles but we always thought he'd stay this far, we've thought of him as a potential Cup horse. We're looking forward to seeing how he gets on and hopefully he'll learn a lot from it."

Modern record

Nayef Road has ten lengths to find with Stradivarius on their Ascot meeting but the fact that he is back at two miles on a track where he won the Gordon Stakes last year suggests he may be more of a threat to the big two than the market suggests.

Should he cause such an upset, Nayef Road would be a sixth Goodwood Cup winner for Mark Johnston, only one behind John Scott, whose seventh success came back in 1860.

Nayef Road (blue/red striped cape, centre) won at the Qatar Goodwood festival in 2019Credit: Edward Whitaker

What the rest say

David Simcock, trainer of Spanish Mission
It was a good comeback run and I'd like to think he has come on, but realistically we are running for third and the race revolves around two horses.

Alan King, trainer of Who Dares Wins
He ran very well in the Cadran last year and he is just getting very hard to place off that mark in handicaps. We thought we'd have a crack and there's a lot of money in the places. The rain will certainly have helped him and though we’re under no illusions what we’re up against, we'll roll the dice. The old boy's in great form, he's bounced out of Ascot.

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