Stradivarius Eyes Arc After Goodwood Cup Win

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Stradivarius Eyes Arc After Goodwood Cup Win main

Six-year-old Stradivarius was able to secure four victories in the Goodwood Cup on Tuesday confirming his status as one of the best-staying horses in the competition. He will now be taking on the journey to prove himself as one of the most versatile of the horses. Stradivarius owner, Bjorn Nielsen, also took to the media to confirm the horse final target for the season will be the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, with his regular jockey, Frankie Dettori, backing it as a realistic target for the winner.

This comment from Dettori is important to note as he has been booked to ride Enable, who won the Arc twice in 2017 and 2018 when the horse goes in search of the third victory in the European racing competition on the 4th of October. Love, who won the Oaks, and Ghaiyyath are tagged to be the rivals in this upcoming event according to the backing these ew tips, but Stradivarius’s unexpected turn of event on Tuesday will see only a few people dismiss his chance.

This year’s Irish Derby victor, Santiago, was one of the latest opponents to challenge Stradivarius, even after getting 15lb from the 4-7 favourite before being sent off as ready.

Stradivarius, who was trained by John Gosden, was conceding in weight to his rivals on Tuesday even but luckily Dettori was able to remain calm on the 4-7 favourite and went past the runner-up Nayef Road (20-1), with Santiago (15-8) ending in the third position.

Stradivarius Eyes Arc After Goodwood Cup Win horse

“Very fast fractions”

Thanks to the victory, the six-year-old horse was able to become the first horse in the Goodwood Cup’s history to win the race four times in the tournament’s 212-year history. This was Stradivarius’ seventh Group One win in his career and might be his last race at a staying trip.

Speaking to the media, Bjorn Nielsen said via the Guardian: “The plan for a year has been that if he was able to win this again and everything was right, we were always going to give him six weeks and go to the Prix Foy [a major Arc trial], then see what he can do against the mile-and-a-half horses in the Arc.

“Going up against mile-and-a-half horses it’s a different deal, but I did think he ran very well [over the trip] at Newmarket against Ghaiyyath [in June] when he was nowhere near ready.

“He ran some very fast fractions in the middle of that race, so we’ll see. His preferable surface really is top of the ground but in a race like the Arc, where they go fast and it can be a bit of a stamina test, we know he goes with giving so it might play to us more with a bit of cut in the ground.”

The jockey to be taking Stradivarius on a ride is yet to be known, but Dettori understands that the six-year-old performance on Tuesday will make him a serious threat in their upcoming race in October. Stradivarius is said to be top-priced at 14-1 for the Arc, while Aiden O’Brien’s Battleground becomes the new 8-1 favorite for the 2,000 Guineas next year.

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