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Saturday 4 August 2001

August 4th, 2001 | 2001 Journals Ian Carnaby's Racing News

In some ways, it has been business as usual at Goodwood. Zuhair won on Wednesday – the third time he has won this five furlong handicap – and then gave best to stable-companion Flak Jacket over the extra furlong on Friday. David Nicholls ‘reads’ these races like a man with second sight, and it is small wonder an army of supporters follows his every move.

Bob Jones won with Antonio Canova at Newmarket on Friday night, but his Cold Climate ran moderately in Flak Jacket’s race at Goodwood. Cold Climate seems to do better for strong handling and a rest between races, though he may just have needed this outing to put him straight. He will be very interesting next time.

I was not too dismayed by Ivory’s Joy’s run on Tuesday. The Group Three King George Stakes looked a rather modest Pattern race, but Ken Ivory’s mare was unable to go the gallop on lightning-fast ground. She will be quite a price in the autumn on the soft, and I would definitely watch the trainer’s moves.

Danehurst would, in all probability, have had the King George at her mercy. She sidestepped the race, and is again an absentee at Chester on Sunday, thus increasing the chances that she will take on Mozart in the Nunthorpe at York. If that encounter happens, he will be a very hot favourite but is not the good thing people suppose. Danehurst is capable of taking on the very best, and it appears that Sir Mark Prescott is thinking along those lines.

Ian Carnaby