‘That’s racing’ – Trawlerman done no favours by loose horse
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Tue 28 Jul 2026
John Gosden was left ruing a loose horse as Trawlerman’s Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup chance was thwarted just as another duel with Scandinavia looked set to materialise.
Having finished just a head behind Aidan O’Brien’s champion stayer in a titanic running of the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, Trawlerman was 1lb better off on this occasion, but even his special ski goggles could not help him foresee what was about to unfold.
Trawlerman has a condition which means his eyes are sensitive to direct sunlight and Gosden, who trains with son Thady, has found the ski goggles act as a real help while he is on the gallops at home and in the paddock pre-race.
However, just as William Buick was settling down to battle it out with the eventual winner, Amiloc, who had unshipped Hector Crouch coming out of the stalls, impeded Trawlerman causing Buick to stop riding for a few strides, losing all momentum.
In the final reckoning it may have not have mattered, as Scandinavia ran out an impressive winner in the defence of his crown.
“Next time I’ll make sure all the jockeys stay on!” quipped Gosden senior.
Buick said of the interference: “It’s significant, it’s hard to say how significant but he’s a horse who is a Gold Cup winner so he stays.
“He was going through the gears down the hill. To try to manoeuvre around a loose horse is never easy and my worry was if I found myself on his outside I could give away a lot of ground and be on the stands side, theoretically.
“I went the shortest route and he only got in my way in the most important part of the race. It definitely had an effect.
“It’s unfortunate, I know the winner won well on the day but on a horse like him at that stage of the race it is obviously not ideal, so he’s run a super race.”
Watch what William Buick had to say after the Goodwood Cup.
Gosden added: “It was a messy race. He got interfered with early and then the pace early was quite strong. He got into a nice rhythm down the hill and I noticed Ryan (Moore) was beginning to ride (on Scandinavia) and we had a length and a half on him.
“The loose horse came back and visited us again and once you check and lose your rhythm that’s it in any race, let alone when you’re finding a rhythm over that trip. That’s life and that’s racing, it happens more in jump racing than flat racing.
“When you’ve been crossed like that and checked, he’s not the type to turn around and start quickening. He has to build it up, which he was. But look, that’s the way it is. We got the worst of it and we went from being a length and a half in front to a length and a half behind. That’s racing.
“You can’t recover. The horse went across us and Ryan didn’t get much interference, so once you’ve given that ground away you’re not getting it back.”
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