GOSDENS ARE FIRM FAVOURITES FOR SUCESS

Nick Townsend talks to John Gosden about his new partnership with son Thady

- Nick Townsend

In late March, it required just over 24 hours for Gosden & Son, the newly-established Newmarket training partnership to deliver an immediate, ominous statement of intent to all its rivals. The day after champion trainer John

Gosden and his son Thady officially became joint licence-holders at Newmarket’s Clarehaven Stables, under a new BHA initiative, the credits on the new balance sheet began to swiftly accumulate with the proceeds of an Anglo-Dubai five-timer.

That quintet included the Longines Dubai Sheema Classic, won by Mishriff, and the Dubai Turf, claimed by Lord North – both partnered by Frankie Dettori – at Meydan, securing a cool £4m prizemoney for their owners in the process.

For added measure, at a slightly more modest prizemoney level, the training partnership also won the Unibet Lincoln Handicap at Doncaster with Haqeeqy, ridden by the stable’s 18-year-old apprentice Benoit de la Sayette – a poignant victory for owner Hissa Hamdan al-Maktoum, whose father Sheikh Hamdan had died a few days’ earlier.

Even for a revered master of his craft, responsible for the majestic mare Enable, now retired and in foal to Kingman – also trained by Gosden – and the now seven-year-old Cup king, Stradivarius, who will bid this season for a fourth consecutive Ascot Gold Cup, it could hardly have been a more auspicious start under joint names.