Owner hoping fan favourite Stradivarius can seal his legacy with 2020 campaign

The Lonsdale Cup and securing the £1 million Weatherbys Hamilton stayers' bonus for a second time are at the top of the agenda for Stradivarius but his owner-breeder Bjorn Nielsen sees no reason why the fairytale has to conclude at the end of 2019.

Instead he is hoping the five-year-old can continue to carve his own legacy next season and would love for Stradivarius to be remembered among turf racing's greatest stayers when the time comes to call it a day.

Frankie Dettori celebrates aboard StradivariusCredit: Edward Whitaker

"As long as he retains his enthusiasm I will keep him in training," he said. "Obviously York is going to be the target if he comes out of this well and then I'd imagine Champions Day again. Then we'll see about next year.

"Hopefully he remains enthusiastic and I can have him around for another year."

Stradivarius has a habit of putting Nielsen through the wringer during his races but watching the star stayer win a third Goodwood Cup on Tuesday was a more serene experience than usual.

Goodwood Cup full replay and result

His horse may have had more rivals to pass than is often the case turning for home but Nielsen described a sense of inevitability as he watched Stradivarius closing in on his eighth consecutive win, a victory that took the no-nonsense chestnut a step closer to the great stayers of the past.

"He's made it difficult for me quite a few times but not today," said Nielsen, 61. "The three-year-olds were getting 15lb which is a lot of weight and I thought that was a big deal. I thought it was a perfect position for Frankie to sit and pick them off.

"Horses in front of him are not going to beat him. While he's enthusiastic and healthy, he wants to pick off anything that's in front of him. He wants to win and it wasn't that much of a sweat today."

While Nielsen went into breeding to produce a horse to win a Derby in his famous black and gold silks, he also grew up in the era of Ardross, Le Moss, Buckskin and Sagaro, supreme stayers who returned year after year to cement their legacies, something he hopes Stradivarius can achieve.

"They won all those races and no matter what he does, they are legends in their era," he added. "He's the best horse around today at that trip and just to be compared to them is a great thing."

On the joy of breeding the greatest stayer of a generation, Nielsen said: "It's unreal and I'm just so lucky. Breeding requires an incredible amount of luck to turn up with a horse like him and I've had that luck."

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