Hawk Flyer heads Gordon entries
Hawk Flyer, ante-post favourite for the Tote Ebor at York next month, is one of 13 entries revealed today for the Peugeot Gordon Stakes on the opening day of Glorious Goodwood.
Other interesting potential contenders for Tuesday’s £55,000 Group Three contest, run over 12 furlongs, include Predominate and King Edward VII winner High Accolade, Delsarte a close third in the Daily Record Scottish Derby last time, the St Leger hopes Gold Medallist and Let Me Try Again and the Barry Hills-trained Yawmi, winner of both his starts to date.
Steve Cauthen, the only jockey to be a champion on both sides of the Atlantic, will be at Goodwood on Tuesday.
Cauthen, 43, who won the American title once and the jockeys’ championship in Britain three times during the 1980s, will be at the Sussex track to mark a new sponsorship of the Richmond Stakes.
He will present the winner’s trophy following the Four Star Sales-sponsored Group Two contest
The £70,000 (€98,000) contest has been won by some smart horses in recent years, notably Bachir, Daggers Drawn, Sri Pekan, Dilum and Warning, although Cauthen never managed to win the race as a jockey.
Four Star Sales is managed by Cauthen’s brother, Kerry. He and three other former Kentucky horsemen set up the company in 2002 with the aim of preparing and selling bloodstock at public auction.
The Richmond Stakes has attracted a competitive entry of 11 juveniles including Curragh winner Carrizo Creek, Richard Hannon’s duo Kings Point and Venables, winner of last Friday’s Rose Bowl Stakes at Newbury, as well as three from champion trainer Aidan O’Brien’s Ballydoyle yard, Old Deuteronomy, Devil Moon and The Mighty Tiger.
Hills could run impressive Newmarket winner Fokine on his way to bidding for next month’s Gimcrack Stakes at York.
The afternoon’s other Group Two contest, the £100,000 (€140,000) Lennox Stakes has 19 entries headed by local hope Tillerman.
Trained at nearby Pulborough by Amanda Perrett, Tillerman won the Group Two Celebration Mile at the course last August.
Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor has Firebreak and Meshaheer entered while Clive Brittain has put Jersey Stakes winner Membership in the seven-furlong contest.
Another possible runner from the Classic generation is Bryan Smart’s recent Chester winner Monsieur Bond.
Last year’s winner Nayyir is entered again but his trainer Gerard Butler has indicated that the gelding may run instead in the Group One Sussex Stakes 24 hours later.
The going at Goodwood was today described as good to firm, good in places by clerk of the course Seamus Buckley, who expressed his delight at the first-day entry.
“We are very pleased with the number of entries. There’s 166, it’s great really,” he said.
