Quickthorn scooped his first group 1 win with a six-length runaway in the Goodwood Cup under a brilliant frontrunning ride from Tom Marquand Aug. 1 at Goodwood Racecourse.
In a repeat of the tactics that saw the duo win in similarly dominant fashion in last year’s Lonsdale Cup (G2), Marquand sent the 16-1 shot straight to the front from the stalls and they were clear by around 25 lengths with four furlongs to run.
The pair were not for catching, and Quickthorn stormed to a breakthrough top-level triumph ahead of Emily Dickinson and Coltrane . The winning distance was six lengths, with Ascot Gold Cup hero Courage Mon Ami finishing sixth as the 2-1 favorite.
Marquand, winning his first Goodwood Cup, told ITV Racing: “He’s a warrior in his own right. I’ve had a bit of fun on him before on big days and he just loves bowling away and putting everyone else to the sword. It was a magnificent performance.
“It’s plain and simple what we are going to do on him and it’s testament to him that they still couldn’t stop him. He’s a hell of a lot of fun. We knew what he could do and you know he’s going to be there for you in a fight, but he didn’t even need to do that today.”
Quickthorn was cut to 6-1 (from 20-1) by Paddy Power and Betfair Sportsbook for a repeat bid in the Lonsdale Cup (G2) at York’s Ebor meeting, and trainer Hughie Morrison was thrilled for his star to show his frontrunning heroics once again.
He said: “It’s fantastic to see because Lady Blyth (owner) has been incredibly patient with him and we’ve got our rewards. Winning like he did at York last year was no fluke and he proved it today.
“Tom got the sectionals spot on, and you have to say what a horse he is. We don’t have a huge amount of horses and it’s great to bring them on and reach their zenith in races like this.”
A brilliant front-running ride by Tom Marquand and Quickthorn to win the Goodwood Cup
Coltrane was nabbed for second on the line by Emily Dickinson, and Oisin Murphy said he could not have ridden Coltrane any differently to challenge the runaway winner.
“Because it’s so tight he could only go so far around those turns, but by the time we straightened back up, Quickthorn had a big advantage and my lad walked late on,” Murphy said. “Horses do stop after they’ve gone that quick, but Coltrane really needs (opponents) to chase.
“I had daylight the whole race, and by being sharp to what Tom’s mount was capable of doing I definitely cost myself finishing second. I couldn’t have sat any closer to him.”
