Sweet William has Ebor in sights after sealing Summer success

Sweet William’s rapid progression continued apace at Goodwood with another smooth success in the Coral Summer Handicap.

John and Thady Gosden’s stayer finished second on his first three outings, admittedly never beaten far, but has come into his own in recent weeks.

He opened his account in a mile-and-a-half Doncaster novice before landing a valuable pot when upped to an extended two miles at Newbury last time out.

Sent off the 9-4 favourite to bring up his hat-trick, his supports never really had much to worry about.

Having moved into contention smoothly to take over from Torcello at the head of affairs, Adjuvant appeared as a threat.

With Rab Havlin maintaining his partnership on Sweet William, it was Frankie Dettori who he had to beat on Michael Bell’s charge, but when Sweet William’s stamina kicked in the race was over.

He ended up pulling two and three-quarter lengths clear and while bookmakers were quick to chop his price for the Sky Bet Ebor, his owner Philippa Cooper had previously stated she is not a huge fan of the race.

However, John Gosden would be eager to run at York next month, with Sweet William the 5-1 favourite with the Ebor sponsor.

He said: “He only ran a fortnight ago at Newbury, he’s fresh and well and has won again decisively which is great.

“He’s a lot of fun to train. It was a long time before he could race but he has a strong view on life. As soon as he hits the front, he looks around and goes where he wants to go.

“I hope personally that Philippa elects to run him because the York Ebor meeting is my favourite of the year.

“It will be touch and go whether he gets in, and if not we will take it on the chin and step him up into Cup races.”

Cooper could yet be persuaded to run at York, although Sweet William sits some way down the field with a weight of 8st 11lb at this stage.

She added: “My husband is an Ebor person – he loves the Ebor and trying to find the winner. I’m willing to go with the flow. I’m not going to tell the trainer what to do because without the trainer I wouldn’t even have the horse.

“If they want to do it – could he get in off a low weight? I’m just grateful and it’s one day at a time, so let him come through today.”

Proven soft-ground performer Monsieur Kodi came out on top in the Coral Stewards’ Sprint Handicap, providing Richard Fahey with his first win of the meeting after a couple of near misses.

Monsieur Kodi (9-2F), who stayed with the majority of the field on the far side, burst clear under Oisin Orr before staying on to prevail by half a length.

Runner-up Capote’s Dream (17/2) had to wait for an out before finishing strongly to close on the winner late on. Many A Star (9/1) was three quarters of a length further back in third. Morning favourite Zaman Jemil was withdrawn at the start.

Orr said: “It is hard work, and I think it's not far off heavy ground, but this lad has shown he can handle it before, so it was probably a bonus to us.

"It [the far rail] is the freshest ground and if you can get an advantage anywhere it's on fresher ground, so we were aiming to get over there and it's worked out."

Of his decision to move from Ireland to take a job with Richard Fahey, Orr said: "It wasn't a very difficult decision. I had done well in Ireland, but at the time I needed a change and it's been great ever since I came over."

Harriet Cozens, part of winning syndicate Middleham Park Racing XVI, said: “I think there are six of us here today. We were hopeful, very hopeful, as he likes the ground. Callum [Pittendreigh, work rider] said he had a really good chance today. It depended on whether he could cope with the really soft ground, but they were very, very hopeful for an excellent run – and it’s brilliant that he’s got his head in front again, as he is superb.”

She added: “I have been involved in Middleham Park for about five or six years now. I have quite a few shares in quite a few horses, it’s my hobby. I just love it – love it to bits.”

On Monsieur Kodi’s Goodwood win, she said: “It is totally glorious. To have a horse win on one of the biggest days of the whole calendar is very special.”

Tom Marquand said of Capote’s Dream: “He ran super. The race came over to the far side, and he is a horse that likes to come through them. I would have loved to have got out two strides earlier, but it probably suited him in that regard. The ground is very soft."

Jeffrey Hobby, husband of owner Phoebe Hobby, said of Many A Star: “He ran really well. Oliver [Cole] has done a great job getting him back to form. The ground is challenging and that did not really suit, but he ran really well. He struggled to get out as they all came in very tight and, when he got out, he did not pick up as we would have liked. On this ground, the softer ground horses did better. He put in a very creditable performance.”