By Tom Frary
Saturday was all about “Mr Goodwood” as Tom Marquand again led his weighing room comrades a merry dance on the G2 Qatar Lillie Langtry S. shock winner Sumo Sam (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}).
As he had on Tuesday's brilliant G1 Goodwood Cup hero Quickthorn (GB) by the same sire, the meeting's leading rider made all on Ben and Sir Martyn Arbib's homebred 3-year-old on ground turned heavy by ever-worsening conditions. Far from caving in with two furlongs remaining, the Paul and Oliver Cole-trained 25-1 shot whose previous best was a third in Newmarket's Listed Pretty Polly S. continued to pile it on. At the end of the mile-and-three-quarter feature, she had won with relish by 8 1/2 lengths from River Of Stars (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in an exhibition of power in testing ground.
Oliver Cole said of the winner, who had also been third behind Al Asifah (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the Listed Agnes Keyser Fillies' S. here in June, was rewarding the efforts of the Whatcombe team having become renowned as a slow-starter. “Sumo Sam has always been a very good filly,” Oliver Cole said. “We have done a lot of stalls work with her since her last run. In her last two races, she has been left and that hasn't been helpful. Full credit to the team at home and thanks very much to the guys at the stalls who are the unsung heroes. Also to the boys who have ridden her in the stalls at home, because I know I wouldn't ride her.”
Ralph Beckett, who was winning his first Qatar Goodwood Festival training title, said of River Of Stars, “She stumbled coming out of the stalls, but I'm not sure it made any difference as she was always scrambling on that ground. She has a German dam side to her pedigree, but I have always felt that she is a good, fast-ground filly. I would say the [G2] Park Hill [at Doncaster] next, or something like that. She didn't run very well in it last year but she is a hardier, more finished article this time.”
Pedigree Notes
Sumo Sam is the first foal out of the unraced Seaduced (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) who is a half to the owner-breeders' G3 Legacy Cup winner and G1 Pretty Polly S. runner-up Stay Alert (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and her Listed Gillies' S.-winning full-sister Star Rock (GB) who was also runner-up in the G2 T. Von Zastrow Stutenpreis and third in this race. Their dam is the G2 Park Hill S. runner-up and G2 Lancashire Oaks third Starfala (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), one of a trio of black-type performers out of the listed scorer and G3 Prix Cleopatre-placed Farfala (Fr) (Linamix {Fr}). They include the Listed Zetland S. winner and stakes producer Under The Rainbow (GB) (Fantastic Light) who was runner-up in the G2 Lancashire Oaks. Also related to Linamix's G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud hero Fragrant Mix (Ire) and the G1 Prix Jean Romanet heroine Alpine Rose (Fr), Seaduced has yearling colt by Golden Horn (GB).
Saturday, Goodwood, Britain
QATAR LILLIE LANGTRY S.-G2, £300,000, Goodwood, 8-5, 3yo/up, f/m, 14fT, 3:17.66, hy.
1–SUMO SAM (GB), 123, f, 3, by Nathaniel (Ire)
1st Dam: Seaduced (GB), by Lope De Vega (Ire)
2nd Dam: Starfala (GB), by Galileo (Ire)
3rd Dam: Farfala (Fr), by Linamix (Fr)
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GROUP WIN. O-Ben & Sir Martyn
Arbib; B-Arbib Bloodstock Partnership (GB); T-Paul & Oliver
Cole; J-Tom Marquand. £170,130. Lifetime Record: 7-2-1-1,
$247,842. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–River Of Stars (Ire), 134, f, 4, Sea The Stars (Ire)–Amazone
(Ger), by Adlerflug (Ger). (400,000gns Wlg '19 TATFOA).
O-Woodford Thoroughbreds LLC; B-Dr Klaus Schulte (IRE);
T-Ralph Beckett. £64,500.
3–Time Lock (GB), 134, f, 4, Frankel (GB)–Time Chaser (GB), by
Dubawi (Ire). 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE. O-Juddmonte;
B-Juddmonte Farms (East) Ltd (GB); T-Harry & Roger Charlton.
£32,280.
Margins: 8HF, 5HF, 1HF. Odds: 25.00, 3.30, 4.50.
Also Ran: Free Wind (Ire), Peripatetic (GB), Luisa Casati (Ire), Divina Grace (Ire), Ghara (GB). VIDEO.
Tom Marquand – king of @Goodwood_Races!
The rider is a late sub aboard Sumo Sam (25/1) and proves an inspired one in the £300,000 Group 2 Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes @whatcomberacing | @Goodwood_Races pic.twitter.com/vPgwWjpRvU
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) August 5, 2023
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
