By Peter Moore at Goodwood Friday 24th May 2024
Day one of Goodwood’s two day May Festival meeting saw a healthy crowd in attendance ahead of the late May Bank Holiday weekend.
Well-travelled Isle Of Jura secured his fourth victory in a row by taking the William Hill Festival Stakes over 1m 2f.
The four year old has been successful in Bahrain during the winter, winning four of his five starts for trainer George Scott and jockey Callum Shepherd.
It was a great ride from Shepherd who kept the horse behind early on before steadily making his way through the field to get up to deny Mujtaba by half a length.
“He was a little bit rusty early on but travelled well and engaged nicely at the top of the hill before getting the job done,” said Scott. “He’ll go to the Hardwicke Stakes now and I’ll expect you’ll see a better horse in a truly run race on fast ground over a mile and a half.
“He’s been a fantastic servant for us and we’ve had a great winter with him. He’s a big horse and is improving mentally and physically. He settled in really well in Bahrain and it was the perfect thing for him. It was a good effort today and it’s lovely to see him prove himself back in Britain.”
It was confirmed this week that Shepherd would be replaced by Robert Havlin aboard Derby second favourite Ambiente Friendly. Scott added “Callum has been in the news this week but has received overwhelming support. He gave him a lovely ride and we’re pleased to give him a winner.”
Elsewhere, on the card in form Saffie Osborne continued her purple patch at the moment with a double for trainer Ed Walker.
In the opener she rode Red Sand to victory in the novice two year olds British Stallion Studs Stakes on the 7-2 shot. The colt moved up in trip after finishing second on debut at Bath over 5f earlier this month.
Osborne completed her double by steering Queen’s Reign to victory by a neck over Oisin Murphy on board Aragon Castle.
Another tight finish of the afternoon saw Havlin narrowly win the 1m 4f fillies handicap aboard Ayyab by a nose from the David Menuisier trained Entrancement.
Havlin, has been involved in a couple of tight finishes in the last 24 hours after winning Thursday’s Henry II Stakes at Sandown aboard Sweet William, who got the better of the Menuisier trained Caius Chorister.
Saeed bin Suroor recorded his second success of the season when Wild Tiger prevailed in the William Hill Epic Boost Handicap run over 7f.
The five year old followed up his victory at Yarmouth with another comfortable win by two and a half lengths over Toimy Son and will now be aimed at the Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot next month.
The Newmarket trainer is down to 40 horses after it was announced earlier this year there would be redundancies in the yard.
“We have cut back the number of riders but we’re trying to keep the quality as high as possible,” said Bin Suroor. “We have to be positive for the future. Sometimes you have to be lucky to find the right horses but the numbers make a difference.”