Goodwood Saturday

Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes (Group 2)

TERM Of Endearment (Henry de Bromhead/Billy Lee) made headlines when giving Rachael Blackmore a Group 3 winner at York in May, and she stepped up in class to take the Group 2 Lillie Langtry Stakes on Saturday, once again beating Night Sparkle (Andrew Balding/Oisin Murphy) and River Of Stars (Ralph Beckett/Rossa Ryan), who had chased her home on the Knavesmire.

The margin of victory – three-quarters of a length – was also the same, with the third finishing the same distance away, slightly closer than she had in the Bronte Stakes. The daughter of Sea The Moon was returned at 15/2.

The trio who dominated the finish sat behind the pacemaking Caius Chorister while race favourite Free Wind was steadied at the start and ended up disappointing.

Caius Chorister led until headed by Night Sparkle over two furlongs out, but the new leader was tracked through by the strong-travelling Term Of Endearment, who took over soon after and, despite edging left to the centre of the track, held on with a little to spare.

Provided the owners can be convinced, Henry de Bromhead has bigger plans for the five-year-old mare, saying: “I was a little bit concerned about the ground today, but Term Of Endearment handled it, and I think she’ll stay further as well.

“The owners might take a bit of convincing, but I’d love to go for the Melbourne Cup. It’s been a great ambition of mine to have a runner.”

THERE was a shock in the Stewards’ Cup with 40/1 shot Get It (George Baker/Pat Cosgrave) making every yard of the running from stall 28.

He was followed home by 2023 runner-up Apollo One (Peter Charalambous and James Clutterbuck/Richard Kingscote), from stall 27. In all, four of the first five home occupied four of the five highest stalls, with Billyjoh (Mick Appleby/Rossa Ryan) doing well to finish third from stall 4 on what was his second run of the week at the big summer fixture.

Eight for Al Aasy

For a horse who gets called more rude names than most, Al Aasy (William Haggas/Jim Crowley) has a remarkably good strike-rate; seven of his eight wins have come in just 14 starts at listed/Group 3 level, with the most recent success coming at odds of 3/1 in the Group 3 Glorious Stakes at Goodwood on Saturday.

Holding his mount up as always, Jim Crowley decided early in the straight that he was going to persevere with a run up the far rail despite there being little room to manoeuvre, and his patience paid dividends when just enough space opened up to allow him to sweep past leader Relentless Voyager (Andrew Balding/Oisin Murphy) to register victory.

Phantom Flight (George Scott/Callum Shepherd), who had beaten Al Aasy in the Steventon Stakes at Newbury, held every chance but could offer no extra late in the day and finished third, with the margins a neck and a length. It was, incidentally, a good day for the family, with Al Aasy’s full-brother Align The Stars winning the mile and three-quarters handicap which followed.

“He’s seven now so he’s been with us for a while, and I think finally he’s maturing; it took a while!” said owner Sheikha Hissa about the talented gelding. “He was unlucky at Newbury on his last start, so it’s good to have him back. We think highly of him. He thought he was out for a canter in the beginning of the race. He’s just had a good day out in his own mind. A typical boy! He’s always fun, you never know what you’re going to get with him.”

Guest still delivers

Newmarket Saturday

NEWMARKET trainer Rae Guest has had great success with fillies over the years, with My Emma and Serious Attitude providing him with Group 1 wins on home soil, while the latter also took the Grade 1 Nearctic Stakes in Canada.

Group wins have been hard to come by in the last decade, but Divina Grace (Billy Loughnane) showed that he can still deliver the goods when winning the Listed Chalice Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday.

The daughter of Golden Horn was always prominent in the mile and a half event, forging on when hitting the rising ground inside the final furlong to beat Place of Safety (John and Thady Gosden/Benoit de la Sayette) by a length and a quarter.

The four-year-old filly was gaining a fifth career win, all of which have been gained on fast turf, and she may do better under such conditions when racing over further, with previous tries at a mile and three-quarters coming on softer ground.

Guest revealed he was expecting a big effort: “We knew we had a bit in hand today and, if everything went right, we thought we had a great chance.Divina Grace is going to stay in training next year.

“Quite a few people, including the jockey, have said she will get further. She still seems like she is improving, so hopefully we’ll keep her racing, and we’ll find the right race for her.”