Leading stayer Stradivarius will be looking to bounce back to form in the Group One Goodwood Cup after finishing a tame fourth last time out when looking to land his fourth Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.
The seven year old has been the poster boy for the UK staying division for the last four seasons landing 10 races in a row including winning a Weatherbys-sponsored £1million bonus in the last two seasons after landing the Yorkshire Cup, Ascot Gold Cup, Goodwood Cup and Lonsdale Cup at York.
As mentioned, Stradivarius lost his unbeaten record that stretched back to May 2018, when being pipped in a photo finish on Champions Day 2019 in the Long Distance Cup.
He came back last season and had a prep run in the Group One Coronation Cup where he ran to a good standard finishing third and gave him the run he needed to go and win a third straight renewal of this event.
After joining the likes of Double Trigger and Yeats after landing the Gold Cup, he headed to Glorious Goodwood seeking a fourth win in the Goodwood Cup, which he went on to win.
He was dropped in trip after that in prep for the Arc, where the race did not suit him and that seemed to really mess him about with him only beating one home in the Long Distance Cup.
HISTORY IS MADE..
— The Winners Enclosure (@TWEnclosure) July 28, 2020
Stradivarius wins his fourth Goodwood Cup!
✅ Unbeaten at Goodwood
🏆 7 Group 1 triumphs
💰 £2.9m in prize money
⭐ One of the great stayers of all time
📹 @RacingTV pic.twitter.com/atnZJo5Ou0
The mighty veteran came back this season for the Group Three Sagaro Stakes at Ascot and was a superb winner of the event over two miles and having been kept since then was looking to give a bold bid in the Gold Cup.
However, it was not to be with him suffering some traffic issues and never really finding his finishing speed that he usually does, eventually finishing fourth behind the smart Subjectivist.
He now heads into the Goodwood Cup looking to land his fifth straight win in the race and due to an injury to the Gold Cup winner, he looks set to go off favourite.
(Credit ATR) Gosden said: “He’s been in good order since Royal Ascot. The Gold Cup was a fascinating race and Subjectivist put in a superb performance.
“I’d love to have got in a race with the winner, but we never had the opportunity to get there and that’s life.“I think Frankie (Dettori), having ridden him so brilliantly in previous Gold Cups, seemed to have a brainstorm and sit 12 lengths of the pace!
“I’m sorry that Subjectivist is not able to run next week, it’s heartbreaking for everyone involved and it would have been great to have enjoyed a ‘Duel on the Downs’.”