Cover image courtesy of Goodwood
The annual festival of racing that is 'Glorious Goodwood', The Qatar Goodwood Festival, kicked off on Tuesday with crowds returning for the first time since 2019. In the splendour of an English summer, the G1 Qatar Goodwood Cup opened proceedings, followed by the G1 Qatar Sussex S. on Wednesday, and Ladies’ Day led the remaining three days of racing as the sport returned to its usual splendour.
Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}) was a popular winner of the Goodwood Cup on Tuesday, a race that had been touted as a good return for four-time winner Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). But it wasn’t to be for the grand and gifted stayer, with Stradivarius' scratching owing to unsuitable ground.
On Wednesday, the £1 million (AU$1.88 million) G1 Qatar Sussex S. was won by Alcohol Free (Ire), a son of Coolmore’s No Nay Never (USA).
The mile race has always attracted a stout offering, with past winners including Kingman (GB), Toronado (Ire) and Frankel (GB), the latter winning it two years on the bounce.
Alcohol Free, bred by Churchtown House Stud and trained by Andrew Balding, defeated Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) and Snow Lantern (GB) (Frankel {GB}) to bring his useful record to five wins from eight starts, and a tick over £1 million (AU$1.88 million) for his troubles.
So far, the Goodwood meeting has lived up to its moniker as ‘glorious’, a traditionally beautiful week of racing in the height of the European summer, and one that boasts the spectacular grounds of the Duke of Richmond and Gordon’s Goodwood Estate.
It’s also been a beacon of light, one of the first race meetings that has occurred without any semblance of COVID-19 restrictions.
A happy place
Hermione FitzGerald is an international ambassador for the Qatar Goodwood Festival, a Sydney resident for nine months of the year (from where she works for OTI Racing), and an annual pilgrim to Europe for the remaining months.
For many years now, she has worked closely with Ed Arkell and Adam Waterworth, recruiting local and international horses to Goodwood’s festival in late July, and promoting it aside its chief sponsor, Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club.
Hermione FitzGerald with Louis Le Metayer and Tony Williams | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
Their previous successes include the Japanese superstar Deirdre (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) and the Australian filly Houtzen (I Am Invincible), the latter a former galloper for Toby Edmonds before her transfer to English trainer Martyn Meade.
In Meade’s care, Houtzen was second to Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in the 2019 G2 King George Qatar S.
Up until a fortnight ago, FitzGerald was unclear if the Goodwood festival would go ahead with on-course crowds, COVID numbers hitting scary heights among the largely vaccinated British populace.
“With the UK government’s road map out of the pandemic, it was June 19 for the initial opening up of the country,” FitzGerald said. “That got delayed a month to July 19, so that always meant we at Goodwood were confident that we would be able to open up to full crowds and capacity at this race meeting.”
"At Goodwood (we) were confident that we would be able to open up to full crowds and capacity at this race meeting." - Hermione FitzGerald
It was a close shave, nevertheless.
“Of course there was uncertainty,” she said. “The government always can make last-minute changes, as happened last year when we were due to be a trial event for crowds. The night before, they canned it when we were supposed to have 5000 on-course.”
The 2020 festival occurred without crowds, which was a huge blow to the event’s organisers. However, it has come back with vigour this year.
“Last year there was nobody at the racecourse, bar a few owners that were allowed,” FitzGerald said. “Historically, Goodwood is known as ‘Glorious Goodwood’, where the British would move to Sussex for the week, and race the whole week from here. It is a social event, a happy holiday place and it requires crowds to be that.”
The racecourse is expecting a bumper crowd of 25,000 on Saturday, and has enjoyed lively attendance throughout its opening days.
Crowds mill around the mounting yard at Goodwood Racecourse | Image courtesy of Goodwood
Road map out of COVID
The return to regular racing, with its jaunty faces in the grandstand, was appreciated by the jockeys too. Frankie Dettori rode Angel Bleu (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}) to victory on the opening day in the G2 Unibet Vintage S., and he was visibly at home.
And, it’s worth noting that the festival is open for business without masks or conditions of social distancing. There is even a vaccination hub on-course for patrons that are still in need of their Pfizer or AstraZeneca jab.
“There’s no testing, no restrictions on hospitality or anything,” FitzGerald said. “And that was always part of the government’s road map. For the last three or four months, we’ve worked on the meeting being absolutely normal.”
It’s an inspiring mantra for Australian racing right now, with much of New South Wales locked down and the major spring carnivals of The Everest and Melbourne Cup around the turn.
An empty Caulfield during the All-Star Mile meeting in 2020 | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
It's also a respectable, and impressive, fact that Goodwood's prizemoney this year, £4.8 million (AU$9.2 million), has returned to its 2019 level, despite the hit that it took with empty stands last year.
FitzGerald added that the Goodwood festival has always enjoyed an Australian presence, especially in the last few years with visits from the likes of Magic Millions’ Barry Bowditch and Clint Donovan, and Arthur Mitchell and Henry Field among others.
“The attention to detail at Goodwood is phenomenal,” she said. “They put on events really well, and have done for a long time. The Estate has the Festival Of Speed and the Goodwood Revival, as well as Glorious Goodwood each year.”
The Festival Of Speed, which occurs annually in early July, is a celebration of motor racing, while the Revival is a three-day event each September that pays homage to the halcyon days of motor racing, and is hosted in full period costume of the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s.
"I love coming back for Goodwood each year. It’s great to be involved with such a forward-thinking racecourse like this, and I enjoy coming back each summer for it." - Hermione FitzGerald
“I love coming back for Goodwood each year,” FitzGerald said. “It’s great to be involved with such a forward-thinking racecourse like this, and I enjoy coming back each summer for it.
"I think the European flat season is really unique in that there are festivals and they’re all unique in their own way, from Royal Ascot to the July Cup at Newmarket and then Goodwood. I love it, it’s the best of both worlds being in Australia for the majority of the year and then coming back for this.”
