HIGHFIELD PRINCESS BELATEDLY opened her account for the campaign with a runaway victory in the King George Qatar Stakes at Goodwood.
John Quinn’s superstar mare won three times at Group One level last term, landing the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville, the Nunthorpe at York and the Flying Five at the Curragh.
She had to make do with minor honours in her first three outings of this season, but having placed in both the King’s Stand and the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot in June she was the 4-9 favourite to get back on the winning trail.
Those who took the cramped odds about the six-year-old will have had few concerns for the duration of the five-furlong contest, with Highfield Princess initially taking a lead Czech raider Ponntos before bursting to the lead.
White Lavender came from out of the pack and just briefly threatened to make a race of it, but Highfield Princess found another gear in the last half-furlong under her regular partner Jason Hart and had three lengths in hand at the line.
Paddy Power make the winner their 2-1 favourite from 11-4 to successfully defend her Nunthorpe crown at York on 25 August.
👸 Highfield Princess 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙨 home to win the King George Qatar Stakes
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) August 4, 2023
Another classy ride from @jasonhart13 #ITVRacing | @Goodwood_Races | @johnquinnracing pic.twitter.com/NGqRmEsXnV
Earlier, Epictetus inflicted a shock defeat on the much-vaunted Nostrum to land the Bonhams Thoroughbred Stakes.
Winner of his first two juvenile starts before finishing third in the Dewhurst, the Michael Stoute-trained Nostrum was considered a legitimate Classic contender at the start of the year before injury ruled him out of the first half of the season.
Having made a dominant comeback in the Listed Sir Henry Cecil Stakes at Newmarket last month, there was talk of a tilt at Group One glory in the Sussex Stakes, but connections instead elected to take another step forward in this Group Three contest.
For much of the one-mile journey the race appeared to be going according to script, with Ryan Moore adopting the same pacesetting tactics which worked so impressively at Newmarket three weeks ago aboard the 4-6 market leader – but it was a clear with a furlong to run he had a race on his hands.
Having sat in Nostrum’s slipstream throughout, the John and Thady Gosden-trained Epictetus produced the better finishing kick of the pair and passed the post with a length in hand under Frankie Dettori.
Epictetus gets up brilliantly to win the Bonhams Thoroughbred Stakes
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) August 4, 2023
It's a record SEVENTH win in the race for @FrankieDettori #ITVRacing | @Goodwood_Races pic.twitter.com/keMcJYIbOh
Epictetus was a 6-1 shot to notch a first win since making a successful reappearance at Epsom in April, having since failed to trouble the judge in the Dante, the French Derby or the Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Dropping back to a mile for the first time this season Epictetus looked the real deal, much to the delight of his connections.
“We tried three times over a mile and two furlongs and we always had an excuse – the ground, the competition in the Jockey Club, and we thought maybe George (Strawbridge, owner) was right when he said, ‘Maybe you guys are running this horse too long!” said Dettori.
“John and Thady found this race over a mile and the favourite looked very hard to beat, I had a good passage and he passed the horse and was not stopping, I give him full credit
“He is ready to go up in grade – the Celebration Mile in three weeks springs to mind and then there are lots of races in the autumn – at Newmarket, maybe over Arc weekend. He has beat a decent field today in style and we can go back and make big plans.
“As he handles some ease in the ground, we can look to the autumn.”
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