Tom Dascombe has taken a
leaf out of the book of his jump racing colleagues with his handling of Brown
Panther this season, with the Artemis Goodwood Cup the second leg of a
four-race plan. Today's three-and-a-half length Group Two success followed
victory in a Listed contest at Pontefract and next on the five-year-old's
agenda are the Irish St Leger and then the Melbourne Cup.
"We perhaps haven't
done as well as we should with him since he won at Royal Ascot at three,"
said Dascombe. "So we've decided to be careful and pick just a few targets
in a season, and make absolutely sure we get him right for each one, like the
National Hunt boys do, and it seems to be working.
"Just four races this
year is the plan, with the Melbourne Cup the final aim, though obviously it's
one step at a time. This race was very much the plan as his first prestige
target and now we can press on from here. And the horse has been helping us
because he's maturing all the time."
The Artemis Goodwood Cup
is the biggest success of Dascombe's career to date, and his first winner at
Glorious Goodwood. A step up to Group One level again is next in the Irish St
Leger at the Curragh in September, a race in which Brown Panther was beaten a
head and a short-head into third last year.
"We have struggled a
little for good horses," said Dascombe, who trains from Michael Owen's
stables in Cheshire. "This one is obviously our best, and we've got to
make the big races count when we can."
Brown Panther started as a
13/2 shot. "The lads at the yard like a bet," added Dascombe,
"but they like a result better, and I think they left him alone
today."
The Goodwood Cup was also
rider Richard Kingscote's best result. "I had to ask him out of the stalls
to make sure he held a position," he said, "but he travelled good all
the way. It was a genuine pace and turning for home I was actually pretty
confident. I wanted to keep him up there because I didn't want to be caught for
toe - he likes to be involved in a race early and then grind it out. Today's
step up to two miles helped.
"He's become more
straightforward to ride as he's got older; when he was younger he could be a
bit quirky. He's a horse who likes a race to go his own way, if there's a
sprint to the line and he gets left, he loses interest. I was delighted after
the first couple of furlongs to get a lead and I was just a question of
enjoying it for the next mile.He likes to be put into a race early so he can
boss it a bit and once he saw the gap today and put his head through it he just
took off.
"He's a lovely animal
to be around, and a real nice horse for me to be on. And on this evidence there
is still more to come."
BROWN
PANTHER'S BIG-RACE SUCCESS
Richard Kingscote, the winning rider who
was celebrating his first Glorious Goodwood winner, said: "The step up to
two miles helped and I was really confident that he would love the track. I was
delighted after the first couple of furlongs to get a lead and it was just a question
of enjoying it for the next mile.
"There is a bit of a
false patch turning into the bottom bend and he stumbled but it was fine.
"This is what it's
about and it is great for the all of the lads in the yard - they really love
the animals."
Trainer Tom Dascombe,
who welcomed in his biggest winner and first Glorious Goodwood winner,
commented: "We probably haven't done as well as we should have done with
him by now, but I think that the horse is helping us because he is maturing.
"We have taken our
time, tried to pick races this year and get him spot on for each day. It seems
to be working a bit better than it was.
"The lads like a bet
but I think that they were more keen on having a result, so they probably left
him alone today. This was the plan, the target and hopefully we can move on if
everything is all right after this.
"We have struggled
for top-class horses. We have a few horses but none quite as good as this. When
you have only got a few, you need to make them produce results, so this is
massive.
"Andy, my head lad,
rides him everyday and the whole team is focuses especially on this horse
because you need to win the big ones when you can."
Michael Owen, the part-owner of Brown
Panther, declared: "It's great. There's a lot of heritage in this race and
it's a fabulous race to win.
"It's my first time
at Glorious Goodwood - it's always been the football season and I was normally
in America or Hong Kong doing the pre-season tours. It's my first chance to get
here and it's a real honour to have a horse that is so good and to win such a
good race.
"He is full of stamina
and we didn't want it to be a dawdle, hence we were up there in the box seat in
case there was no pace. Thankfully, the leader has done us a big favour and
given us a nice lead.
"Brown Panther has
galloped all the way to the line and it's a great training performance by Tom
Dascombe and a great ride by Richard Kingscote. There are loads of people
behind the scenes but a big thank you to Andy Jackson, our head lad who rides
him every day - he said that we had never had this horse better leading up to
this race. It was a relief when he came up trumps.
"With football, you
always feel that you are in some form of control with you and your team-mates.
This racing game is so tough on the nerves, you send your jockey out and just
hope that your trainer has got him spot on.
"We thought about the
Melbourne Cup last year and we were thinking about again this year prior to
this race. As long as he didn't bomb out today, we were thinking the Irish St
Leger and then the Melbourne Cup. On that evidence, I don't see why we should
change our minds."
STEP UP
IN TRIP HELPS AHZEEMAH
Trainer Saeed bin Suroor
felt that Ahzeemah relished the step up in distance to two miles for the
Artemis Goodwood Cup when the four-year-old finished three and a half lengths
runner-up to Brown Panther.
"It was a very good
run. He tries very hard and has a big engine," said bin Suroor. "He
won in Dubai and ran well last time and has a big heart. Two miles could be the
best trip for him but he could now go for the Group Three at Newbury (the
Geoffrey Freer Stakes over an extended mile and five furlongs)."
German raider Altano was
three-quarters of a length further back in third and Christa Germann, assistant
to Andreas Wohler, commented: "He ran a good race in the Gold Cup at
Ascot, which was his first time in this sort of race, and we could go for the
Prix du Cadran and then the German St Leger four weeks later.
"This is a difficult
course and sometimes this horse needs to be on his own to perform at his
best."
3.15pm
Artemis Goodwood Cup (British Champions Series)
(Group 2)
£100,000
total prize fund. For 3yo+, 2m. Weights: 3yo colts and geldings 8st 6lb;
fillies 8st 3lb; 4yo+ colts and geldings 9st 7lb; fillies 9st 4lb. Penalties:
after November 1st, 2012, a winner of a Group 1 race 4lb (Races won at 2yo not
to count penalties). Weight for age: 3 from 4yo+ 15lb. Penalty value 1st
£56,710.00 2nd £21,500.00 3rd £10,760.00 4th £5,360.00 5th £2,690.00 6th
£1,350.00
1) BROWN
PANTHER (Andrew Black & Owen Promotions Limited) Tom Dascombe 5-9-07
Richard Kingscote [2] 13/2
2)
AHZEEMAH (IRE) (Godolphin) Saeed bin Suroor p4-9-07 Kieren Fallon [4] 12/1
3) ALTANO
(GER) (Dr Ingrid Hornig) Andreas Wohler GER t7-9-07 Eduardo Pedroza [9] 8/1
4) NUMBER
THEORY (Moham Fonseka) John Holt 5-9-07 Franny Norton [6]
5) NO
HERETIC (Fitri Hay) David Simcock 5-9-07 Jim Crowley [14]
6)
CAVALRYMAN (Godolphin) Saeed bin Suroor 7-9-07 Mickael Barzalona [5]
7) COLOUR
VISION (FR) (Godolphin) Saeed bin Suroor v5-9-07 Silvestre De Sousa [13]
8) MOUNT
ATHOS (IRE) (Dr Marwan Koukash) Luca Cumani 6-9-07 Jamie Spencer [12] 3/1 Fav
9) CAUCUS
(Normandie Stud Ltd) John Gosden 6-9-07 William Buick [1]
10) ASKAR
TAU (FR) (Nurlan Bizakov) Marcus Tregoning v8-9-07 George Baker [7]
11)
MISTER IMPATIENCE (The Originals) Mark Johnston 3-8-06 Joe Fanning [11]
12)
SADDLER'S ROCK (IRE) (Michael O'Flynn) John Oxx IRE t5-9-07 Declan McDonogh [8]
13)
GLEN'S DIAMOND (S & G Clayton) Richard Fahey 5-9-07 Tony Hamilton [10]
14)
REPEATER (Cheveley Park Stud) Sir Mark Prescott p4-9-07 Richard Hughes [3]
Time: 3m
22.79s
Distances:
3½, ¾, 1¼, nk, 1, 1, 1, 1¼, 1½, 1¾, ¾, 12, 18
Breeder:
Owen Promotions Ltd
Breeding:
Shirocco (GER) - Treble Heights (IRE) (Unfuwain (USA))
Winning
trainer:-Name: Dascombe, Tom Born: Bristol, 30/04/1973 Based: Manor
House Stables, Malpas, Cheshire Background: Born in Bristol and attended
Bristol Cathedral School. Started riding ponies at three years old, before
working for Henry Candy and then Martin Pipe in 1989. Rode 96 winners over the
jumps, before working for Ralph Beckett, Mike de Kock and in America. Moved
from Lambourn to state of the art facilities at Malpas in November, 2009, to
train for football legend Michael Owen and Betfair founder Andrew Black. First
Winner: Principal Witness, Littlewoods Lotto4 0800 500 000 Handicap,
Lingfield, January 4, 2006. First Group Winner: Classic Blade (2008 TNT
July Stakes) Big Race Wins: Goldikova Stakes (2012 Rhythm Of Light),
Superlative Stakes (2008 Firth Of Fifth); July Stakes (2008 Classic Blade);
Rockingham Stakes (2007 Max One Two Three), City Wall Stakes (2010 Blue Jack),
National Stakes (2011 Pyman's Theory), Artemis Goodwood Cup (2013 Brown
Panther) Royal Ascot Wins (3): Sandringham Stakes(2011 Rhythm Of Light);
King George V Handicap (2011 Brown Panther), Queen Mary Stakes (2012 Ceiling
Kitty) First Goodwood Winner: Gentle Lord (Goodwood Aero Club Handicap,
October 9, 2011) Total Goodwood Wins: 3 (1 at July meeting) Wins
(2006-12):10; 26; 42; 58; 36; 51; 79 Wins in 2013: 32
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