Marquand gets seal of Approval at Goodwood

Approval lunged late under Tom Marquand to take the Coral Kincsem Handicap for William Haggas at Goodwood.

Twice a runner-up on the all-weather in spring and then a comfortable winner at Windsor in June, the chestnut then headed to Royal Ascot for the Golden Gates Stakes.

His front-running approach did not pay off there as he was beaten into seventh but a change of tactics reaped its rewards.

An obvious passage from his midfield position did not materialise in the final furlong and Marquand was forced to squeeze up in the inside rail to grasp the lead in the final strides and secure success by a neck from Brioni, ridden by Vincent Ho.

“He would have been unlucky if he had got beaten because he tried every gap!” said Maureen Haggas, wife of the winning trainer.

“He did well to win. He won at Windsor making the running and he was too free at Ascot.

“Today we thought there would be plenty of pace and they went off, we dropped in and then they slowed it down considerably. I thought maybe he was in trouble.

“Actually he accepted it and has done really well to run a really nice race. He seemed to enjoy the track.

“Where he goes is William’s department but he was much more mature in the prelims.”

Ralph Beckett trained the first two home in the Jaeger-Lecoultre Nursery Handicap as Mr Chaplin gave chase and passed Original Outlaw in the closing stages.

The winner was ridden by Rossa Ryan and started at 10-1, whereas Original Outlaw was a 9-1 chance under Hector Crouch and only a neck split them on the line.

“I don’t think the second was stopping. The reason why the second hasn’t got it done in maidens or novices is because he needs this kind of test – a big field suited him today,” said Beckett.

“The race kind of fell apart in front of him and Hector had to kick on.

“I think the winner did it really well from that draw (12), he was never getting any luck and he might be a bit better than we thought he was.

“If all the owners are on board, I think we would be keen to go to the seven-furlong nursery at the Ebor meeting with Original Outlaw.

“It’s more than bitter sweet for the Gunthers (owners of Original Outlaw), who owned and raced Without Parole, who is the sire of the winner, but they have a nice horse on their hands as well.

“With Original Outlaw, I think today he’s worked out what’s required and I didn’t feel he really had until now.”

Michael Appleby had another good day on the Sussex Downs as Shagraan took the five-furlong Buccellati Handicap.

The 7-2 joint-favourite under Tom Marquand, Shagraan had fared well throughout the season so far without winning but built on those efforts to prevail by half a length from Karl Burke’s Got To Love A Grey.

“He shows a lot of ability at home, he’s very quick,” the trainer said.

“The key to him is keeping him covered up for as long as possible. As soon as he hits the front, that’s it, he thinks he’s done enough.

“Tom gave him a peach of a ride and it panned out all right.

“We’ll have a look at the programme book and see where we are going to go next with him. He is quite highly strung, so whether we would want to travel abroad with him, I’m not sure.

“Stick to five furlongs with him and possibly go up in grade, he wants a fast five.”

The HKJC World Pool Handicap then went the way of Great Chieftain for Joe Fanning and Paul and Oliver Cole at 20-1.