Glorious Goodwood: Stradivarius wins third Goodwood Cup under Frankie Dettori
- Published
Dettori: "All I have to do is put him there and he does the rest"
Stradivarius won the Goodwood Cup under Frankie Dettori to claim a third successive victory in the race.
The five-year-old, trained by John Gosden, made it eight successive wins and became only the second horse after Double Trigger to win the two-mile prize on three occasions.
Stradivarius, (4-5f) won by a neck from Dee Ex Bee, with Cross Counter third.
"He's a jockey's dream. He's a bit of a boy, he knows he's good," said Dettori, 48, who is enjoying a hot run of form.
"He'll never be flash and win by 10 lengths."
Dettori sat Stradivarius in the middle of the pack during the first mile as Wells Farhh Go swept into a big lead.
The real race began in the final few furlongs as Stradivarius' closest challengers, Cross Counter and Gold Cup runner-up Dee Ex Bee, took up the running only to be overtaken in the final furlong by the Bjorn Nielsen-owned chestnut.
'I've been here before' - Dettori on early celebration
It was Dettori's 10th top-level Group One victory in 60 days, a run that began with Anapurna in the Oaks and includes Stradivarius winning the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.
Tuesday's success was also the Gosden-Dettori partnership's eighth Group One victory of 2019, and comes three days after they combined to lead Enable to victory in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
The Italian added: "He follows any pace. He's got that burst, goes to the front and thinks he's got enough.
"All I have to do is put him there and he does the rest."
Gosden remarked on the jockey's premature celebration, saying that he ran the risk of going "over the handlebars".
Dettori told BBC Radio 5 Live: "I probably celebrated one stride too early - everybody was probably panicking. But I've been here before."
The 48-year-old followed up with victory on Cobra Eye in the next race, although earlier he was given a four-day suspension for careless riding on runner-up Hey Gaman, who was beaten by the David Elsworth-trained Sir Dancealot in the Lennox Stakes.
Analysis
BBC racing correspondent Cornelius Lysaght
There can be few sportspeople - let alone jockeys - anywhere in the world performing better than Frankie Dettori at the moment.
A run of the type of big-trophy success in which he specialises, which started in May, has sent his confidence sky-high and, consequently, his brilliant racing brain to its sharpest.
Every decision made seems to be the correct one, or not the incorrect one as was illustrated here by his slightly premature celebration not letting in the runner-up, which sniffed one final, unexpected chance. Of course, it's not all Dettori: the Gosden team is operating at a highly superior level too.