The Johnny Murtagh-trained Take Heart produced a game performance to take the opening race of this year’s Qatar Goodwood Festival, the Coral Chesterfield Cup Handicap.
Ridden by Murtagh’s stable jockey Ben Coen, four-year-old Take Heart (7/1) was near the head of the 17-runner field turning into the home straight and made good use of that position to hold off the late finish of 3/1 favourite Enfjaar by a neck.
Enfjaar had won the John Smith’s Cup at York on his previous start, a race in which Take Heart finished eighth, but an additional 7lb concession proved just too much today. There was another length back to third-placed Tony Montana and the same distance to Max Mayhem, who finished fourth.
Murtagh said: “Ben said he was going to sit closer. In York we got a bad draw, he had to drop in, and they didn’t go fast. I thought the make-up of the race today suggested they would go fast but they didn’t and he stayed on in the end.
“Take Heart did a nice piece of work the other day and Ben said he would be a bit more aggressive from the gates. He was closer than probably we had planned, but he said they were going so slow that he brought him into the race, and he did it very well.
“After York, I thought we had a chance of winning one of these big handicaps. I fancied him in York. I knew the draw was going to be difficult. I was disappointed but, when you look back, he was only beaten four and a half lengths.
“I think he’s a mile-and-a-quarter horse. At the start of the year, I thought he would stay a mile and a half but he’s got a bit quicker this year, with the cheekpieces on him.
“In racing it is all about number ones, whether you are a jockey or trainer – you still get the same buzz. It didn’t go to plan in York, but when it does like this it is a real satisfaction.
“I haven’t spoken to Barry [Irwin] and Team Valor yet but there is a big handicap on Irish Champions Weekend that he ran very well in last year, so he could go there. He is probably a Stakes horse in the making.
“It’s just really nice to win one of those big pots because you can be unlucky in these big races. With a horse like him, if you miss the target once, you get a couple of pounds here and there, and it makes it tough.”
Coen said: “Probably earlier in the year I spoilt Take Heart a bit. I wasn’t giving him enough credit for how much pace he has.
“The last day, you can put a line through it, and I thought he did well to finish where he did. There wasn’t enough pace on.
“I fancied this lad today. We went slow. I wanted to sit a bit further back but I kept going forward. He didn’t do much when we quickened up and got to the front, but he was good.”
Roger Varian said of Enfjaar: “Frustrating, but he’s run very well and is a really nice horse going forwards. It didn’t quite happen for him today, but I am sure there will be some good days with him.”
Jim Crowley added: “The pace was a bit too slow for Enfjaar. He has run a good race.”