Richard Hannon in the spotlight again as Magical Sunset springs 18-1 Group triumph

Richard Hannon enjoyed a second Pattern-race success at this Glorious Goodwood when Magical Sunset picked her way through the traffic to land the Whispering Angel Oak Tree Stakes. 

The three-year-old defied odds of 18-1 but her credentials for testing conditions had been well established by a Listed success on heavy going in the autumn.

"She loves that ground," said Hannon, who also won the Vintage Stakes on Tuesday with Haatem. "I'm delighted she could show her best form today. She didn't get the trip at Sandown last time, so we brought her back a furlong. She's a very good filly.

 "We even had the owner [Kia Joorabchian] on the phone and he sounded pleased," Hannon joked. "That's extremely rare!"

Given a patient ride by Kevin Stott through the early stages, Magical Sunset could be seen aiming for the stands' side rail as the field entered the straight. For a moment she had no room to run into as other rivals got there first but a gap opened with about 300 yards to go and she responded willingly to go past Breege.

"Her sire Kodiac loved this ground and a lot of [his offspring] do like it," Hannon added. "It's not so much that she has to have it, it's that a lot of other horses don't go on it and she can. That's what helps her."

Breege must be due a success, having also been placed in the Princess Margaret, the Prestige and the Sandringham, but trainer John Quinn was all smiles in the unsaddling area. 

"We're delighted with her," the Yorkshire-based trainer said. "She coped with the ground, she might like it a bit better. She's got invaluable black type at two and three. We just want to win a black type race, which is well within her compass.

"She looked very fit when she came in there, so as long as she eats up, we won't be leaving her in her box too long."

The Goat delivers

A gamble over conditions paid dividends for Andrew Balding after The Goat outran his 25-1 odds to land the opening 1m4f handicap. The three-year-old was making his first start on soft ground and relished the change of going to score by 12 lengths. 

"We thought he might win by 30 lengths!" joked Steve Hill of The True Acre Partnership. "It's brilliant, I thought the ground was going to stop him but he loved it. 

"He's such a lovely horse, he's threatened to do this before and we knew he would one day. He's such a character and is one of the most-liked horses in Andrew's yard."

The Goat stretches clear under Jason WatsonCredit: Mark Cranham

It was the first leg of a double for Balding, with Flora Of Bermuda also scoring in the fillies' conditions stakes under Oisin Murphy. 

"He had a few niggles in the spring and needed a couple of runs to really find his stride but he's got his confidence back and we thought he was fairly well handicapped," Balding said of the son of Cracksman. 

"It's very tough ground out there but sometimes you have to roll the dice to see if you can learn something. There's a lot of guessing going on and you're learning the whole time but if it doesn't come off, at least you know for the future."

Going for gold 

Rhoscolyn was cut to a general 12-1 chance for Friday's fiercely competitive Coral Golden Mile after splashing to victory in the World Pool Handicap that ended Wednesday's card. 

David O'Meara's veteran outstayed Wobwobwob in the 7f contest to give Murphy a double on the day.

Representing the winning Horse Watchers syndicate, Chris Dixon said the horse would run again on Friday if he recovered sufficiently quickly, but pointed out that a 3lb penalty, combined with the fact his rating has declined since the Golden Mile weights were set, will mean that Rhoscolyn would be running off a 7lb higher mark on Friday.

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