For immediate release, Friday 24 July 2026
Interview available to download via WeTransfer: https://we.tl/t-qcpabGmSMex47LOe
Interview available to embed via YouTube: https://youtu.be/fAoVctjO4r8
CLAREHAVEN STARS PRIMED FOR QATAR GOODWOOD FESTIVAL
PRESENTED BY VISIT QATAR
Group 1 Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup
Dual Group 1 winner Trawlerman will return to the scene of his 2022 Qatar Goodwood Festival success when he contests the Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup on Tuesday. That victory proved an important step in the career of the Godolphin homebred, who has since established himself as one of the leading stayers of his generation, winning the Group 1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and the Group 1 Long Distance Cup at Ascot last autumn.
Trawlerman made a belated seasonal return in this year’s Gold Cup following a less-than-ideal preparation. He produced an excellent comeback effort, making the running and giving 1lb to the younger Scandinavia under the weight-for-age conditions before being narrowly denied.
Thady Gosden is pleased with the eight-year-old’s progress since Royal Ascot and is looking forward to his return to Goodwood.
Reflecting on Trawlerman’s Ascot performance, Gosden told Goodwood Racecourse: “He has been great. It was his first run of the year, and he has sharpened up a little bit since.
“He had been off the track for a long time beforehand, and running over two and a half miles is a pretty extreme thing to do first time out. But he took the race very well and two or three days later, he was out in the ring behaving as though he were a two-year-old again.
“He still has all the enthusiasm he has always had.”
Ascot provided a thrilling spectacle, and with Trawlerman entitled to progress from that seasonal return, the prospect of a rematch with Scandinavia at Goodwood is all the more compelling.
On how much improvement Trawlerman might find at Goodwood, Gosden said: “He seems to have improved in his work and is finishing out very well. He was doing so beforehand, of course, but it is a difficult race, as it should be.
“It is one of the great staying races of the summer and we will be taking on a similar group to Ascot again. He goes there in good form.”
Trawlerman’s recently developed sensitivity to light has led to him sport a distinctive pair of goggles at home and during the preliminaries. The equipment has thankfully enabled him to resume his usual training routine.
Commenting on the goggles, Gosden said: “They seem to help and he does not mind them at all. It is one of those situations where, if something is working, why change it?
“He will wear them again during the preliminaries, but not for the race, just as he does in his work at home. Hopefully, everything goes well.”
Now an eight-year-old with six seasons of racing behind him, Trawlerman remains at the peak of his powers - a testament to the outstanding work of the team at Clarehaven. His longevity and continued enthusiasm are a source of immense pride to everyone associated with him.
Gosden added: “He has achieved a huge amount in that time, having first won at Goodwood as a four-year-old.
“To have a horse like him, a Godolphin homebred, is wonderful for the whole team. He is a horse everyone can support and a very likeable character. Hopefully, he runs a great race for them.”
John and Thady Gosden are also set to be represented by Queen Alexandra Stakes runner-up French Master.
Providing an update on the Wathnan Racing-owned son of Frankel, Gosden said: “He has been in good form since Ascot. Two miles and six furlongs is an extreme trip, and there was always a question over whether he would stay, having never raced over that distance before.
“He came out of the race in great order and finished strongly that day. He ran a huge race and was only just denied by Illinois.”
Group 1 Qatar Nassau Stakes
Friendly Soul is set to return to Group 1 company for the first time since landing the Prix de l’Opéra as a three-year-old. The daughter of Kingman subsequently suffered a setback that ruled her out for the entirety of her four-year-old campaign.
Her two starts this season have not gone entirely to plan. She encountered a patch of false ground on her seasonal return in Listed company at Haydock Park before enduring a troubled passage in the Group 2 Duke of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Reflecting on Friendly Soul’s season so far, Thady Gosden said: “Things did not go as expected at Haydock. She was travelling into the race very well when something very unexpected happened, but thankfully she was absolutely fine afterwards. You would not have known she had been in a race, which was brilliant.
“She had a nice preparation for Ascot, although things did not quite go to plan on the day. She had a little bit of a messy trip round but finished well, and the mile was a little below her optimum trip.”
Looking forward to Friendly Soul’s return to 10 furlongs, Gosden added: “I think she will enjoy stepping back up to a mile and a quarter. It is an incredibly sporting decision by her owner-breeders, George and Julia Strawbridge, to keep a mare like her in training.
“She represents one of their great families and is the fourth Group 1 winner out of her dam, so we hope it all works out for them.
“She is an older mare now, so she is never going to do anything particularly flashy at home. But, from everything we have seen, she still very much appears to retain that [Group 1] ability.”
Friendly Soul’s connections have shown tremendous patience to bring her back to this level, and victory in the Qatar Nassau Stakes would provide the ultimate reward.
Gosden concluded: “It would be wonderful for them. Fillies of her quality and with her pedigree are difficult to come by, so it is fantastic that they have kept her in training to see her race on. Hopefully, she can fulfil the target that she’s been aimed for.”
ENDS
