John Gosden has revealed seven-time group 1 winner Stradivarius will remain in training as an 8-year-old, with the Ascot Gold Cup (G1) as his primary objective before he retires at the end of the season.
It looked as if retirement could be on the cards for the superstar stayer after he was beaten in consecutive starts in October by Trueshan in the Qatar Prix du Cadran (G1) and the QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup (G2).
But after discussions with owner Bjorn Nielsen, Gosden, who trains alongside son Thady, said Stradivarius will return in 2022 for a swansong year in which he will attempt to match Yeats’ achievement of winning four Gold Cups.
Gosden said: “Mr. Nielsen has been in to see the horse today and the intention is for Stradivarius to stay in training next year with the intention of three races: a prep run, the Ascot Gold Cup, and the Goodwood Cup (G1), at this stage.”
Expanding on the decision to keep Stradivarius in training, Nielsen said: “He’s as enthusiastic as ever, which is quite amazing, but he is. As long as he continues to show that he will run in a prep, which will be either the Sagaro Stakes (G3) or the Yorkshire Cup (G2), with the Ascot Gold Cup as his main aim.
“Then the choice will likely be stored open, if he’s on the prime of the sport and if circumstances are proper, for Goodwood and that would be the finish of his profession after that.”
He added: “He is been the soundest horse within the historical past of horse racing, he is by no means missed a beat. He hasn’t missed an engagement in seven years of racing, besides once we introduced him out of Goodwood after that massive quantity of rain.”
A winner of 19 of his 32 begins, Stradivarius has accrued over £3 million in prize cash in a glittering profession which has established him as one of many best stayers within the sport’s historical past.
His tally of three Gold Cups is bettered solely by Yeats, who received his fourth in 2009 on the age of 8, whereas his 4 consecutive editions of the Goodwood Cup received between 2017 and 2020 is a file.
Stradivarius was a well-beaten fourth at Royal Ascot this 12 months behind Subjectivist but rebounded with a rousing victory in the Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup (G2) at York.
He followed that up by winning a second Doncaster Cup (G2) before his two autumn defeats to the Alan King-trained Trueshan saw the crowning of a new king of the staying division.
Nielsen remains unfazed by the prospect of Stradivarius renewing rivalry with Trueshan for a fourth time, having also finished behind the 5-year-old in the 2020 Long Distance Cup.
He said: “Meeting Trueshan on anything but a bog we would be very happy to do.
“Stradivarius will be 8 next year and could he decline? Of course he could and the odds are he might but he was kicking and bucking there today absolutely full of himself and on a good ground surface bring it on. We’re not worried about anybody.”
