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| Staff Writer |
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Mick Appleby maintained his winner-a-day record at this year's Qatar Goodwood Festival as Shagraan scorched to victory in the Buccellati Handicap over five furlongs.
Appleby, who scored with Kitai in the HKJC World Pool Fillies' Handicap on day one and Big Mojo in yesterday's Gr.3 Jaeger-LeCoultre Molecomb Stakes, saw his stable star Big Evs set to tackle today's Gr.2 King George Qatar Stakes.
Shagraan who joined Appleby from Clive Cox's stable last autumn, won by half a length from Got To Love A Grey, with the same distance back to Toca Madera in third. Mc Loven finished fourth.
The winner completed a double for jockey Tom Marquand, who also won the opening Coral Kincsem Handicap on Approval.
Appleby commented on Shagraan's performance, saying, "Shagraan shows a lot of ability at home – he's very quick. The key to him is keeping him covered up for as long as possible. As soon as he hits the front, that's it, he thinks he's done enough. Tom gave him a peach of a ride and it panned out all right."
Looking ahead, Appleby hinted at potential plans for Shagraan. "We will have a look at the programme book and see where we are going to go next with him. He is quite highly strung so, whether we would want to travel abroad with him, I'm not sure. We will stick to five furlongs with him and possibly go up in grade. He wants a fast five," he said.
Tom Marquand, who celebrated his 15th Qatar Goodwood Festival winner, praised Shagraan's ability. "Shagraan is a horse who has shown a real good level of ability in the past, and it just felt like we were trying to get it all right for him to be able to show his best. That worked today – we got our cover and there was a good tempo to aim at. He's only won by half a length, but he won strong. He got to the front and didn't do an awful lot after that," Marquand said.
In the meanwhile, Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore brought up a treble on day three of the Qatar Goodwood Festival as Dreamy made a winning introduction.
Showing signs of greenness, Dreamy seemed set for second place as her more-experienced rival Bouvier made the best of her way home. Yet under typical Moore handling, Dreamy switched on in the closing stages and forged past to win by a neck. Tundra Rose finished a length and three-quarters further back in third.
The winner is a daughter of Gr.1 Yorkshire Oaks winner Tapestry and comes from the family of great racemare Miesque.
Tabor's High Hopes for Dreamy Winning co-owner Michael Tabor said, "Ryan was very happy with Dreamy, first time out, as they all were. It is a learning curve and he thought that she could be a little bit special. There is plenty of quality, Ryan said, and she could be an Oaks filly for next year. That is the thinking at the moment. Things change, as we know, but he was very happy with her. You have to get experience into them and the sooner the better. We will talk to Aidan about plans."
Jamie Insole, co-trainer of runner-up Bouvier, expressed mixed emotions about the result. "Gutting, but I would have to have counted my stars to have a Glorious Goodwood winner in our first year. So close! She's such a game filly. I really fancied her for Newmarket the weekend before last, and she cut her nostril in the box and wasn't allowed to run, which was a bit of an annoyance," Insole said.
Insole also praised the winner and looked ahead to future plans for Bouvier. "Aidan O'Brien doesn't bring horses over for no reason and if that horse wasn't here, we would have won quite well. We have to be very happy in defeat and, for the whole team to have a horse which was beaten on the line in our first year at Glorious Goodwood, just gives everyone a boost. Not quite a win, but it looks like we've got a nice filly, which is exciting. It would be good to try to win a novice. Kieran suggested something like the Rockfel might be a good target. We thought on her first run that she might get a mile, but she looks like seven might be her trip this year," he added.