Glorious Goodwood: what are the main takeaways from day two?

Darn hot autumn ahead

In the spring Too Darn Hot was the horse primed to take the Flat season by storm, and despite having to wait longer than planned, he may realise those expectations after a rousing victory in the Sussex Stakes.

Victory in the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat, although encouraging, failed to convince many that the three-year-old had returned to the devastating form of his juvenile season.

Those detractors must now hold their tongues after he beat away the attentions of Classic-contemporaries Phoenix Of Spain and Circus Maximus, who had previously beaten him, as well as the best of the older generation in Lord Glitters.

Trouble beset the precocious son of Dubawi in the early months of the season, but trainer John Gosden and owner Lord Lloyd Webber now appear to have last season's Dewhurst winner firing on all cylinders and primed for further Group 1 triumphs before the season is out – the Breeders' Cup Mile was mooted by Gosden after the race.

Although perhaps now unfairly reduced to a footnote, the success continued a remarkable Group 1 run for Gosden and Dettori in recent days, after Stradivarius's imperious Goodwood Cup victory on Tuesday, Enable's King George victory last weekend and Star Catcher winning the Irish Oaks.

More records fall for Johnston

We all knew it would not take long. Day one of Glorious Goodwood went by without the familiar sight of Mark Johnston in the winner's enclosure, but Britain's winning-most trainer wasted little time in rectifying that odd occurrence on day two.

Sir Ron Priestley's victory in the Unibet Handicap, the second race on the card, gave Johnston his 79th career winner at the meeting, before Mrs Bouquet made all to draw Johnston level with Sir Michael Stoute as Glorious Goodwood's all-time winners leader.

Sir Ron Priestley: another big winner for canny trainer Sir Mark PrescottCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Perhaps more significantly, the pair of wins gave the trainer his 49th and 50th winner in July – an unprecedented figure even for a habitual record-breaker such as Johnston.

On 12 other occasions Johnston has been leading trainer at the meeting and has now positioned himself to claim that crown once again.

Liberty Beach oozes class

Going into the Molecombe Stakes Liberty Beach looked as if she may be star, but after her length victory in the Group 3 connections must now feel they have a future Group 1 winner.

The pace in the 12-runner sprint never looked quick enough for the John Quinn-trained two-year-old, who showed maturity beyond her years to overcome trouble in running to run out a cosy winner inside the final 100 yards.

John Quinn: the Malton trainer is frustrated by restrictions on the recruitment of stable staff from abroadCredit: Louise Pollard

In the aftermath, connections said they would look at the Prix de L'Abbaye, the Breeders' Cup or possibly Newmarket's Cheveley Park Stakes over six furlongs as the daughter of Cable Bay's end-of-season targets.

Either way this looks a top-quality filly with a top-quality future.

Prescott back where he belongs

Stories of Sir Mark Prescott's tail-spinning form in the early part of the season had abated in recent weeks, but they were finally extinguished when Timoshenko gave the trainer his highest-profile winner of 2019 in the Unibet Goodwood Handicap.

Big handicap winners are what Prescott has become renowned for, and with the trainer's undeniable ability to ready horses for those types of contest, punters will need to note his entries carefully in the likes of the Cesarewitch later in the season.

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