The wait for Stradivarius’ swansong goes on as Bjorn Neilson confirms the legendary horse will keep running
For around seven years now, British flat racing’s Long Distance division has played to the tune of Stradivarius. The John Gosden-trained horse has had the world at his feet, winning an incredible 18 group races thus far in his fantastic career — including four Goodwood Cups and three Ascot Gold Cups — and the eight-year-old isn’t ready for the orchestra to bid him farewell just yet.
It was a surprise to many racing fans and pundits when Bjorn Neilson, Stradivarius’ owner, confirmed that he would continue racing this season — with the main aim, of course, to match Yeats’ record of four Gold Cup successes. That didn’t materialise though, with jockey Frankie Dettori receiving much of the slack as the horse finished third to Kyprios in the Ascot showpiece.
But ‘swansong’ after reported ‘swansong’, the show continues to go on for Stradivarius on his farewell tour. Every time he takes the track now, it is believed to be the last appearance of his long career. But he keeps coming back for encores and while he may not have won the Goodwood Cup recently, he certainly gave a good account of himself in the prestigious Group 1 contest.
There was a lot of talk in the build up to Glorious Goodwood after Neilson made the controversial decision to take Dettori, who won 15 group contests in the saddle of Stradivarius, off his mount and give the ride to fellow Italian Andrea Atzeni. But all that was forgotten when Strad and Atzeni had every chance in the closing stages of the Goodwood Cup, just being denied by the neck of Kyprios in one of the races of the year.
With a performance like that in a top race against a Gold Cup winner, it was always going to be difficult for Neilson to confirm afterwards it truly was his prized asset’s swansong — and, somewhat unsurprisingly, the horse’s owner confirmed that it was, in fact, not the final race of his illustrious career.
“We’re not going to say goodbye after that,” Nielsen said, ruling out retirement. “When he is at the top of his game and I think he ran like that today.
“He has still run in the last year or two like he has his enthusiasm and he still training well.
“There is no point stopping him in the middle of the season. This is the best Goodwood Cup – it was lined up to be a tremendous race and going into this race today I thought he could win or finish third or fourth.
“He has run within a head of the Gold Cup winner and I think it was a great performance and we’ll go on for at least one more.”
The next race on the agenda for Stradivarius is believed to the Group 2 Lonsdale Cup at York on August 19th. But with that also being the likely follow up race for Kyprios after his Goodwood Cup success, we wouldn’t go putting our Betfair offer — bet 10 get 30 — on Stradivarius to beat Aidan O’Brien’s Gold Cup winner. Nor would we back the two-mile, half a furlong contest to be the eight-year-old’s final outing.
There is also a chance that Dettori will rekindle his partnership with Stradivarius, as Nielsen refused to rule out the veteran Italian returning to the saddle at York. But that appears to a discussion that is yet to have been had with the owner and the Gosden clan.
“Frankie has handled him well at York but I don’t know whether he will ride him and haven’t discussed that with John and Thady. Frankie was class today to come out and say good luck to Andrea beforehand after all these years,” Neilsen added.
Only the Gosdens, who have claimed ‘as long as he’s happy and enjoying his racing and training, there’s no reason [to finish]’, and Neilson really know what the future holds for Stradivarius beyond the Lonsdale Cup. So all we can do for now is continue to appreciate him while we still can and hope he comes home safe before eventually setting off in to the sunset.
