Aspetar lands a thriller at Goodwood
Aspetar lands a thriller at Goodwood

Aspetar enters St Leger reckoning with Goodwood victory


A round-up of the action from Goodwood on Friday as Roger Charlton's Aspetar put down a marker for the St Leger later in the year.

Roger Charlton enjoyed a timely boost as the promising Aspetar advanced his Classic claims with victory in the British Stallion Studs Cocked Hat Stakes at Goodwood.

The Al Kazeem colt supplemented a Windsor success as he powered down the outside in the one-mile-three-furlong prize to oblige by a length from Main Street, giving winning jockey Kieran Shoemark his first win at Listed level.

Charlton, who has had a relatively slow start to the season, said: "I think for an inexperienced horse Goodwood is not the easiest and he had to switch around and I thought he did it pretty professionally, and he was always travelling well.

"They weren't a bad lot and it was a good step up."

Although the three-year-old holds an entry in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot, the Beckhampton handler may look at bigger targets later in the season, including the St Leger at Doncaster.

He added of the 7/2 winner: "He loved the ground and the chance of getting ground with ease in it at Ascot will be a little bit remote.

"He got that trip all right and you couldn't say 'no' to the St Leger. I'm sure Al Kazeem would have stayed one-mile-six, so there is stamina there."

Amy Murphy may have to get her best hat out for the Royal meeting with Kapono (11/4) in line for the Windsor Castle Stakes following his victory in the Thames Materials Muck Away Novice Auction Stakes.

Kapono is away and clear at Goodwood
Kapono is away and clear at Goodwood

Murphy said of her first winner at the course: "He is a nice horse that we thought would go well first time out, but we bumped into one as the winner (James Watt) has won again and the runner-up (Wedding Date) won a class two at Chester.

"We will get him home and have a chat with the owner, but of course everyone's dream is Royal Ascot. It was not the best of races, but the style in which he did it makes it worth entering him at Ascot."

Hayley Turner enjoyed a winner with Sir Titan in the Thames Materials Recycled/Primary Aggregates Handicap and hopes there is more to come this year, after putting broadcasting duties on the back-burner.

The 35-year-old said: "This year I've dedicated my year to riding and will do ITV when I have chance to do it. The riding has got priority while I'm still fit and healthy to do it."

Trainer Marcus Tregoning said of the 11/2 shot: "He was unlucky, as he nearly won here last year at the big meeting. We've had to wait a while to get him back winning, but he has run some good races in between."

Jane Chapple-Hyam's long-term plan of running Uber Cool (3/1) in the Ascot Stakes moved nearer after the four-year-old held on by a nose under Frankie Dettori in the thamesmaterials.com Handicap.

The Newmarket handler said: "We are hoping to go to the Ascot Stakes, as it's been the plan since October. I won the race in 2009 with Judgethemoment and Richard Hughes.

"I was talking to Richard about this horse at Newmarket and he said you need a horse that relaxes and switches off for that, and he certainly did that today."

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