Dettori lands feature race double, Mellah creates piece of racing history at Glorious Goodwood

Dettori won Tuesday and Wednesday’s big races, the Goodwood Cup and the Sussex Stakes respectively, whilst Mellah was the headline maker in the limelight on Thursday after winning the Magnolia Cup.

Tuesday’s first day of the five day meeting saw Dettori win the Goodwood Cup Stradivarius claimed a third successive victory in the race.

Stradivarius justified favouritism for the race by winning by a neck from Dee Ex Bee in second, with Cross Counter third. In doing so, the five-year-old, trained by John Gosden, made it eight successive wins and became only the second horse after Double Trigger to win the two-mile race on three occasions.

Dettori sat Stradivarius in the middle of the pack during the first mile as Wells Farhh Go swept into a big lead. However the race really got going only in the final few furlongs as Stradivarius’ closest challengers, Cross Counter and Gold Cup runner-up Dee Ex Bee, took up the running only to be overtaken in the final furlong by the Bjorn Nielsen-owned chestnut.

Speaking afterwards, Detori said, “”He’s a jockey’s dream. He’s a bit of a boy, he knows he’s good.

“”He’ll never be flash and win by 10 lengths.””

Victory was Dettori’s 10th top-level Group One victory in 60 days, a run that began with Anapurna in the Oaks and includes Stradivarius winning the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot. Tuesday’s success was also the Gosden-Dettori partnership’s eighth Group One victory of 2019, and came just three days after they combined when Enable regained the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.

Dettori went on to land a double for the day by winning the race that followed guiding the John Quinn-trained Cobra Eye to a short head victory in the European Breeders Fund EBF Maiden Stakes from Fuwayrit in second and Lost In Time in third.

Another jockey, P J McDonald, was to also end the festival’s opening day with a double after taking the final two races; first on Green Power for trainer John Gallagher in the Chelsea Barracks Stakes, before guiding Charlie Fellowes’ Maid For Life to victory in the Unibet Fillies’ Handicap.

The Dettori-Gosden combination continued their winning run on Wednesday as Too Darn Hot took out the day’s feature race, the Sussex Stakes.The three-year-old, owned by Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, was briefly trapped in a pocket but the favourite came through and pulled clear in the final furlong to win the mile contest comfortably by half a length from Circus Maximus and I Can Fly.

Trainer Mark Johnston landed a tidy double on Wednesday’s card, the first of which came courtesy of Sir Ron Priestley came in the Unibet Handicap.

Franny Norton guided the winner home by a neck in the race over a mile and four furlongs, ahead of Durston in second and Eminence in third.

The double was complete in the five furlong distance European Breeders Fund Alice Keppel EBF Fillies’ Conditions Stakes as Mrs Bouquet, under jockey Joe Fanning, came in a length clear of favourite Mighty Spirit in second and Flippa The Strippa in third.

If the first two day’s headlines were dominated by Frankie Dettori, Thursday belonged to Khadijah Mellah who made history by winning the Magnolia Cup.

Four months ago Mellah had not even sat on a racehorse, but on Thursday the 18-year-old student became the first person in the UK to appear in and win a competitive horse race while wearing a hijab. The amateur rider from Peckham, south London, won the five-and-a-half-furlong charity race aboard the Charlie Fellowes-trained outsider Haverland. In the process, she beat the likes of professional event rider Sophie van der Merwe and Olympic cycling champion turned amateur jockey Victoria Pendleton.

“”There are no words to describe this – I’m lost for words,”” Mellah said.

“”When I passed the post I couldn’t believe it, and then I saw all my family and friends and started crying. I am quite competitive, so I wanted to win this race, but I never expected to.
“”Horses bring me immeasurable amounts of happiness. I’ve always loved them and always will and I hope to carry on and keep riding.””

BBC presenter Alexis Green, former Apprentice star Luisa Zissman and TV personality Vogue Williams also took part in the all-female race.

Thursday’s card also saw Japanese horse Deirdre win the Nassau Stakes to end Frankie Dettori’s run of Group One wins. Jockey Oisin Murphy guided the Mitsuru Hashida-trained five-year-old home as Dettori and the Gosden-trained Mehdaayih came in second.

“”This is a dream come true. A massive day for Japan and I am delighted to have done the steering,”” said Murphy.

“”Unbelievable. I am absolutely thrilled. This is why I put in all the hard work and I am thrilled it has been rewarded.””

Rawdaa and jockey Daniel Tudhope finished third.

Gosden did however come away with one winner in the day’s opener, the one mile and two furlong distance Unibet Handicap which saw Harry Bentley guide joint favourite Forest Of Dean to a comfortable two and a half length victory. Fox Premier was second with the other joint favourite Sinjaari in third.

Mark Johnston claimed a second Goodwood double in two days which began when Silvestre De Sousa rode Nayef Road to a narrow neck victory in the Qatar Gordon Stakes. Favourite Constantinople was second with Spanish Mission only a head’s distance behind in third.

Ryan Moore completed the pair for Johnston in the Telegraph Nursery Handicap on board the favourite Governor Of Punjab, with Sword Beach and Toro Strike filling second and third respectively.

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