Gosdens counting down to round two of Trawlerman and Scandinavia

The Trawlerman team are anticipating another race to savour when their staying stalwart locks horns with Scandinavia for a second time in the Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup.

Aidan O’Brien’s son of Justify wrestled away the eight-year-old’s crown after two-and-a-half miles of dramatic Gold Cup action at Royal Ascot, where only a head separated them at the finish.

They are now poised to do battle once again, in a race where Scandinavia arrives as the defending champion and coming force of the division.

However, it is also a contest John and Thady Gosden have enjoyed plenty of success in over the years thanks to four-time winner Stradivarius and they are sure their current long-distance hero will go down swinging once again.

Thady Gosden said: “What is fantastic in the staying division is you have horses that people know and have been around for a long time. To have an older horse like Trawlerman, who has done it all before and is trying to maintain his level, and then a younger horse in Scandinavia coming to take him on is brilliant.

“At the end of two and a half miles at Ascot there were only inches between them, which is I guess what it is all about. Hopefully they will deliver a race everyone wants to see again.

“Trawlerman ran a huge race against Scandinavia at Ascot and we’ll have to see how we get on against him this time. But he’s in great form and I’m sure he will put up a great fight.

“The Goodwood Cup is a fantastic race to win. It’s one of the main staying races in the middle of the summer and it would be fantastic to see him run a big one in it.”

Not only was Trawlerman making the first start of his season in the Gold Cup but it was the first time he had been sighted on a racecourse sporting the goggles he now wears for the preliminaries.

They will accompany him once again on his visit to the Sussex Downs, with the Gosdens full of admiration for the longevity of a horse that has risen right through the ranks during his time at Clarehaven to become one of the Newmarket yard’s household names.

Gosden continued: “The goggles are an unusual thing that I guess you don’t see very often, or ever really, he wears them every day (to help with an eye condition) and it seems to work.

“It’s great to have a horse with his mentality. He has had his issues and is an older horse now, but he is mentally so resilient.

“He must have been up Warren Hill thousands of times by now, but he’s up here every day loving it and enjoying it like it’s his first time. He had a long layoff before the Gold Cup and a hard race, but was back out here two days later bucking and squealing wanting to do a bit more.

“It’s a real privilege to have him and he’s rare. You don’t need to do anything different to keep him interested and he’s always up for it, always enjoying it. I’m sure one day he will move on to do something else, but when that day comes I’m sure he’ll miss us and this as much as we will miss him.”

Trawlerman could be joined in the Goodwood Cup by Queen Alexandra Stakes runner-up French Master, while also set to compete at Group One level during the Qatar Goodwood Festival is Friendly Soul.

Owned by George Strawbridge, the 2024 Prix de l’Opera winner has had an eventful return after being out of action throughout last season.

Having been the horse who lost her hoof down the Haydock hole that subsequently saw the course undergo remedial work on her comeback, she was a luckless third at Royal Ascot behind Falmouth Stakes winner Blue Bolt and now heads up to her Group One-winning distance to challenge the likes of Diamond Necklace and Estrange in the Qatar Nassau Stakes.

Gosden said: “Haydock was pretty unusual and obviously she is a top-class athlete, but to see her put her foot down a hole is not the kind of thing you expect to see on a racetrack. It was a huge relief for all of us to see her come away from that absolutely fine.

“She took another step forward from that run, which ended up being a nice piece of work with a hiccup in the middle, and it took her on to Ascot where she ran a great race. I think the step up to a mile and a quarter now will play to her strengths.”