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| Sumita Pawar |
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Ancient Rome dazzled in his debut for his new owners by making a late move and securing victory in the prestigious Coral Chesterfield Cup Handicap during the opening day of the Qatar Goodwood Festival.
The War Front colt, trained by Andre Fabre for Coolmore, was later taken over by Charlie Hills. However, after three more runs for Fabre, the colt changed hands and was then relocated to a different training yard.
From Underdog To Champion: Horse's Unbelievable Win
After finishing in third place in the Gr.3 Prix Messidor at Chantilly, the 4YO horse was not considered a top contender at 33-1 odds. Jockey Jamie Spencer, known for excelling in challenging circumstances, was determined to prove the skeptics wrong. As they approached the two-furlong pole, they had a significant number of competitors to surpass. Nevertheless, Spencer and the horse showcased their remarkable skills by gradually overtaking their rivals. With an impressive burst of speed, they crossed the finish line, securing a remarkable victory by a length.
Hills said, “I haven’t had him very long, he’s only been with us a couple of weeks, but he’s a very laid-back individual.
“Jim and Fitri Hay are big supporters of this meeting, so we thought we’d give him a go and it’s paid off.
“When we saw the draw (stall 16) I thought it didn’t look good, but there was only one way to do it, which was to give him a chance and try to keep down the middle.
“He’s got some very good form from last year, he was fourth in the French Guineas, and while he’s obviously come down the handicap we’ll probably aim a little bit higher with him.
“That should have given him some confidence now.”
Andrea Atzeni guided Lord Riddiford, owned by John Quinn, to secure a remarkable third victory in the Coral Handicap.
Despite facing disappointing results in two previous races this season, the 8YO horse redeemed himself over his preferred course and distance. With a comfortable lead of three and a quarter lengths, the 8-1 winner effortlessly glided along the inside rail, leaving Stuart Williams' Existent trailing behind.
“He really, really likes this track, he ran quite well in the Dash (at Epsom), but the ground was a little bit quick for him,” Quinn said.
“We thought as he’s an old horse we’ll freshen him up for here and hope that he gets a bit of cut in the ground.
“We were more than hopeful. With these older horses, they need conditions to be ideal.
“Two-year-olds will probably go on ground a bit quicker than is ideal, but older horses need it ideal.
“When I was driving down yesterday there was rain all the way to London, which was lovely! It stopped a bit further on, and then when we got to Goodwood it was raining again and I thought, ‘lovely’. It’s great to see an eight-year-old bounce back and I’m delighted.”
Diego Dias, originally from Brazil, celebrated his first victory as a trainer in Britain when his horse, Mansa Musa, triumphed in a hard-fought race called the British EBF 40th Anniversary Maiden Stakes.
Despite being a former jockey, Dias recently made the transition to training and has been actively involved in the bloodstock industry for quite some time. Although he has held his training license for only four months, Dias had great confidence in his runner, who started at odds of 20-1.
Rossa Ryan, substituting for the injured Vincent Ho, rode Mansa Musa to victory after a tough battle with Array, crossing the finish line first by a narrow margin of a short head.
“We always liked this horse at home. We know he improved from the run and there’s a lot more to come from this horse.
“He’s a really nice horse, we always did like him even when he went to the breeze-up sales in Dubai.
“We didn’t sell him and had to bring him back, he’s just proven for us now how good he is.”
Of his background and journey into training Dias added: “I’m from Brazil, rode back home in Brazil in Rio and rode in Ireland as well.
“The past few years I’ve been doing breeze-ups, I just took out my licence this year and that’s my second winner. It’s great.
“I’m based at the Curragh, best place to be – the gallops are the best in the world!
“It’s going better than I imagined, but I came here very confident that he was going to put on a good show.”