I’M feeling Glorious — and I go into Goodwood still on a high after Enable.
Everyone knows she is my top girl . . . I love her to bits.
And today it’s the turn of my top lad STRADIVARIUS (3.15) to go out and put on a show as he bids to become the first horse to win four Goodwood Cups.
I told you not to doubt Enable and, quite simply, she was brilliant. Wow.
It takes a super horse to win one King George, let alone be the first to win the race three times.
The way she travelled in the race showed she is back to her old self. Boy, she kicked when I asked her.
I’m told the time of her last two furlongs was the fastest ever in a King George — 25.56sec, beating the previous quickest of 25.62sec when Nijinsky won.
When I pressed go, she went. Just like we all know she can.
Three Arcs was always the plan but to pick up a third King George along the way isn’t bad either!
She’s just an unbelievable horse!
All roads now lead to Paris in October and we know the path we have to take could include a clash with Love at York.
Two months is a long time in racing, but fingers crossed the Arc dream is still alive and the aim now will be to keep her in as best shape as we can until then.
Goodwood is a very special place for me, and we go back a long way.
It’s where I rode my first ever winner in the UK and it has also been 30 years since I had my first Glorious Goodwood winner.
It’s a beautiful place high on the Sussex Downs and is undoubtedly the most picturesque racecourse we have.
However, it’s also one of the most challenging.
After Epsom, it would be the second hardest track to ride.
You’ve got the undulations, the turns, big fields and ultra-competitive races.
There have been so many hard luck stories at Goodwood and it really is a place where you have to be very alert as a rider.
For me, today is all about Stradivarius.
I see him every morning and he’s always full of himself, bouncing around the yard.
He was sensational at Ascot and has come out of that in great form.
We’ve beaten most of the field, so we’re confident, but we have to take on the Irish Derby winner, Santiago.
Not only is he a new challenger with plenty of ability, he gets a massive pull in the weights and this is going to be one of Strad’s biggest challenges to date.
We know what Strad can do on his day — he wears his heart on his sleeve, never goes down without a fight and he has run some of his best races at Goodwood.
He handles the track and is in great form so we couldn’t be in a better place to give it a go, but you have to respect Santiago.
If we win the race we go one better than Double Trigger’s three Goodwood Cups and it would be my fifth, putting me joint with Pat Eddery and Lester Piggott.
There is a serious challenge, though, and we’ll be spending no time thinking about those sorts of things.
My focus is fully on giving Strad the best chance of winning, then we’ll have to see if the weight is too much to stop him or not.
Earlier on the card I’ve got King Zain in the Vintage Stakes (2.15) and D’bai in the Lennox Stakes (2.45).
I’m looking forward to having another go on King Zain because things didn’t really go to plan last time at the July meeting.
We were stuck in a bit of pocket, which wasn’t ideal for a big horse like him.
D’bai, which will be my first ever ride for Charlie Appleby, who I’ve known for many years.
I’m looking forward to it — I think we’ll have a good giggle.
It’s ultra-competitive, you could make cases for most of them, but mine is coming off the back of a good win and Charlie’s horses are in great form.
