- KNIGHT
& EGAN LOOK FORWARD TO NEW SEASON
Goodwood Racecourse stages
its first fixture of the new Flat season on Opening Saturday, May 4. The
seven-race card is headlined by £40,000 Listed Betfred The Bonus King EBF Daisy
Warwick Stakes (2.20pm) over a mile and a half and the £40,000 Listed Betfred
Mobile Casino British Stallion Studs EBF Conqueror Stakes (4.05pm) over a mile,
both restricted to fillies and mares.
Darren Egan, 21,established himself
as one of the best apprentice riders last season with 47 winners and was also
one of the leading pilots at Goodwood with six successes from just 20 rides (a
strike-rate of 30 per cent), including two at Glorious Goodwood. His first
winner at Goodwood's main meeting came courtesy of the Mark Johnston-trained
Landaman in the competitive bet365.com Handicap on the opening day (July 31).
A fall at Wolverhampton in
October left Egan with a broken collarbone and put paid to his chances of
winning the apprentice title, but he has picked up where he left off this
season, annexing the valuable Lincoln Handicap aboard Levitate by a short-head
at Doncaster on March 30. The Irishman is apprenticed to trainer Ron Harris,
who is based near Chepstow in Wales.
Egan said: "It was an
unbelievable day when I won my first race at Glorious Goodwood on Landaman. It
was for Mr (Mark) Johnston as well which was also a big help.
"The raw talent on
show with the horses and jockeys makes it one of the best meetings and the
atmosphere on top of that is unbelievable. I rode another winner as well later
in the week, so that was brilliant.
"You need a lot of
luck in running, especially over the longer trips, because if you don't get
that you are simply not going to win. Goodwood is very difficult to ride
compared to other courses because you are constantly switching and changing.
You need a horse that can carry you into the race and they have to handle the
track as well.
"I enjoy the
challenge of riding around there and I would say it is my favourite track for
obvious reasons. I like the big handicaps at Glorious Goodwood because it is
very competitive and just a thrill to get a ride.
"It was good last
year because I was claiming five when Glorious Goodwood was on and I had proved
earlier in the year that I could ride there so I picked up some nice rides.
Hopefully, I can pick up some more rides this year while I'm still claiming three.
"I was very surprised
how well things went last year. The intention was just to ride a few winners,
get my name out there and lay a foundation. The support I got from trainers was
tremendous but, because I was off so long after I broke my collarbone, it has
taken a while to pick up this year. It's starting to get going again now so
it's all good.
"Ideally, I would
like to have another go at the apprentice title but we will just have to
see."
Egan's second Glorious
Goodwood success came when he teamed up with local trainer William Knight,
recording a neck verdict on Aussie Reigns in the Telegraph Nursery on August 3.
Knight has enjoyed some of
the biggest days of his training career at Goodwood and sent out course
specialist Illustrious Blue to land the Artemis Goodwood Cup at Glorious
Goodwood in 2010.
The Angmering Park handler
now trains for the Goodwood Racehorse Owners Group following John
Dunlop's retirement at the end of last season and is looking forward to this
year at the world's most beautiful racecourse.
Knight said: "We
always like to have runners at Goodwood and we will definitely be trying to get
a team there for the meetings throughout the year.
"It is one of my
local tracks and on a nice sunny summer's evening, it is one of the most
picturesque racecourses in the country. They look after trainers well and there
is a nice enclosure for the owners and a lot of mine are quite local so they
enjoy having runners there.
"You need to have the
right type of horse for Goodwood because the course is quite undulating.
"Horses learn a lot
and it's a lovely track. Hopefully, for Glorious Goodwood we will be able to
put together a good team.
"I train for the
Goodwood Racehorse Owners Group and they are a good bunch of owners to have in
the yard. They have been very lucky with their horses and we have a nice
three-year-old called Goodwood Mirage, who won his only start at
Newmarket last year. He will be out soon.
"They had a stable
tour at the yard about three weeks ago and that went well so hopefully we will
have some runners for them at Goodwood in the future.
"I would have thought
we will have out first runners at the course next month in some of the maidens
and handicaps."
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