Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed al-Maktoum in the winners’ enclosure after Muthmir’s win. PICTURE: Juhaim

By Chris Hoover/Chichester, England


With a power-packed ride from Paul Hannagan, William Haggas trained Muthmir narrowly got the better of last year’s winner Take Cover in a thrilling £400,000 Qatar King George Stakes, the feature event on the fourth day of the Qatar Goodwood Festival at the Goodwood Racecourse yesterday.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed al-Maktoum owned Muthmir was the favourite after finishing a close third in the King’s Stand at Royal Ascot before a slightly disappointing effort in the July Cup.
Back over the minimum distance, Muthmir encountered the strong pace off which he thrives, with the trailblazing Justineo, Take Cover and Caspian Prince all ridden forcefully on the drying ground.
After being strung out across the track early on, the bulk of the field tacked across to the far side approaching the final furlong and Muthmir found a dream passage against the far rail.
Once he quickened clear of Justineo, Muthmir had to see off a rallying Take Cover - but he did so by a head. Move In Time finished with a rattle to grab third place.
Hanagan said: “He’s very good. Everyone knows how strong he is now. Sometimes he can hit the stalls too well so I’ve just got to be brave with that blind. When he won the Group Two in France he pricked his ears a little bit, but there he really knuckled down.”
Trainer Haggas said. “He’s fast and they went very fast - he’s got a turn of foot. He won in France and he had a penalty for this so he was the best horse in the race. I would say that (Nunthorpe at York on 21 August) is exactly where we’ll go.”
David Griffiths, trainer of the runner-up, said: “I’m delighted he’s got his form back but a little bit gutted at the same time. He’s only been beaten a head and is back to his best.
“He absolutely loves it here - he’s now been second in this race twice and won it once. He just must have quick ground, even good is a bit slow for him. Last time out at York he choked but we checked him out and couldn’t find anything.”
In the day’s other action, David O’Meara trained So Beloved was a decisive winner of the Betfred Mile Heritage Handicap under the able riding of stable jockey Danny Tudhope.
So Beloved was never too far off the speed, tracking the pacesetters on the far side of the track into the home straight.
Tudhope angled his mount off the fence inside the final two furlongs and he picked up well when coming under maximum pressure to get up and beat Belgian Bill by three-quarters of a length. The Rectifier was back in third, just ahead of 5/1 favourite Basem.
O’Meara, who started training in 2010, said: “I think it’s my 500th winner. A good owner of ours who has been with us since the start, Michael Binns, said that our winner at Redcar the other day was 499, so he is probably right.”
O’Meara added: “So Beloved has any amount ability. He showed that a couple of starts back at York when he won really well from a bad position. He settled well today and was given a great ride by Danny.”
Tudhope, also enjoying his first winner at the course, commented: “I was more concerned before racing, because So Beloved got himself really worked up and I thought he had boiled over going to the start. I knew there wasn’t much pace in the race - we didn’t go very quick - so it paid off to be handy.
“We had a nice position the whole way round and he is a horse with a tremendous amount of ability. I just didn’t want to get to the front too soon, he travelled so well. He is tricky and quirky but, when things fall right for him, he could definitely win a Group race somewhere.”