Majestic Dawn makes all for Goodwood glory

Cole-trained runner leads Listed rivals a merry dance.

Majestic Dawn turned the Listed William Hill Festival Stakes into a rout under a positive ride from Jim Crowley at Goodwood.

The Paul and Oliver Cole-trained son of Dawn Approach had finished 17 lengths behind Solid Stone when last of four in the Group Two Huxley Stakes at Chester over a similar 10-furlong trip.

Yet the drop down in class was clearly what was needed, as the six-year-old, sent off the 3-1 favourite, scorched to a three-and-three-quarter-length success.

Oliver Cole said: “He gave him a great ride and that was the plan, to get him out in front.

“It is good ground and I suppose his ideal trip is one mile and one furlong and we could not be any happier. He is a very gutsy horse.

“He is in the mile at Royal Ascot (Royal Hunt Cup), but we will probably have to sidestep that, because he will have too much weight, and try to find a Group Three somewhere. If he’d have run in the Cambridgeshire last year, he probably would have won.”

Co-Owner Lee Green was quick to pay tribute to the Cole team, adding: “He has had loads of problems with his knees and they have worked so hard to get those knees right all through the winter – otherwise we would not have been here.”

Royal Ascot could be the aim for Fully Wet
Royal Ascot could be the aim for Fully Wet (Simon Milham/PA)

The possibility of the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot was mooted after Fully Wet landed the British European Breeders’ Fund EBF Maiden Fillies’ Stakes at the first time of asking for John and Thady Gosden.

Though she fetched 120,000 guineas as a yearling, the light-framed daughter of Kodiac belied her 8-1 odds in the six-furlong contest to cruise past Baccarat Bay and score by a length and a quarter under Robert Havlin.

Thady Gosden said: “We will keep her at six (furlongs) for the time being but in time she will get seven or a mile, and the Albany is a possibility. They had a lot of rain here yesterday. It is riding a bit dead and she would appreciate a sounder surface.”

William Muir hopes Galiac will head for the Britannia
William Muir hopes Galiac will head for the Britannia (Simon Milham/PA)

William Muir is also looking ahead to the Royal meeting with Galiac, who took the William Hill Harroways Handicap Stakes.

The 16-1 shot drew a length and three-quarters clear of Find in the seven-furlong event and Muir feels the Britannia Handicap will be on the agenda, should he be able to sneak in at the foot of the weights.

Muir said: “This was a real top-class horse last year. But when he came up here today, he was lashing and kicking. I put him in the stable and he nearly kicked the back of the stable out.

“He has been working like a train and we are hoping to get him in the Britannia.

“He is a very good horse, but he is just a thug. I’m delighted with him.”

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