Falcon swoops for Nottingham glory

Godolphin runner wins notable maiden for Saeed bin Suroor.

Island Falcon looks another potentially nice sort for Godolphin, but it might be asking too much to follow in Adayar’s footsteps – last year’s winner of the Golden Horn Maiden Stakes at Nottingham.

Trained by Saeed bin Suroor while Adayar is handled by his Godolphin colleague Charlie Appleby, Island Falcon (11-4 favourite) had a made a promising debut at Goodwood when third just over a fortnight ago.

The race was actually delayed for over five minutes by the eventual winner as it transpired he needed a new shoe having arrived at the start.

He clearly showed no ill effects in the race, though, and he was fairly prominent early on despite breaking from stall 14.

Percy Jones was allowed to dictate a steady pace before Pat Cosgrave made his challenge fully two furlongs from home.

Martyn Meade’s Barley was the last to challenge and showed a smart turn of foot, but a photograph showed he had just failed by a short head.

The race is named after John Gosden’s brilliant Derby, Eclipse, Irish Champion Stakes and Arc winner Golden Horn, who made a wining debut in the contest in 2014, and last year’s winner also won the Derby as well as the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes this summer.

Cosgrave told Racing TV: “He had a nice run the first day and he’s probably improved.

“He had a tough draw today. I had to come three wide but I knew he’d stay well.

“I was probably there plenty soon enough but I had no chance to go, when I did nothing could take me any further.

“He did it the hard way, he’s got a good heart. I couldn’t fault him. He’s well-made, I’m sure he’ll be OK next year and while he’s not overly big, he’s big enough to train on.

“I like him, he could have got beat when the second came to him but he stuck it out good.”

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