Scandinavia emerges as major Goodwood Cup contender after dominant Bahrain Trophy win
One of the best performances at the July Festival last week came from the Aidan O’Brien-trained Scandinavia (118+ from 104) who won the Bahrain Trophy Stakes by eight and a half lengths.
He probably wasn’t seen to best effect on his previous start in the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot, enduring a wide trip but rallying towards the finish, and he built on that promise in no uncertain terms fitted with first-time cheekpieces.
Scandinavia was well supported and his stamina really shone through in the latter stages, regaining the lead three furlongs out and readily extending away entering the final furlong.
That performance puts him in the reckoning for the St Leger at Doncaster, for which he’s a general 4/1 second favourite behind stablemate and dual Derby winner Lambourn.
More interestingly, however, he also has an entry in the Goodwood Cup next month.
Scandinavia shapes as though he’ll relish the step up to two miles, and it is worth noting his weight-for-age allowance of a stone would put himself right in the mix from a ratings point of view.
His stablemate Illinois is the current favourite for the Goodwood Cup (best priced 13/8) and his Timeform weight-adjusted rating of 123 is just 3lb higher than that of Scandinavia, who sits on 120+.
The plus on Scandinavia’s rating highlights he has the potential for even better yet, so it isn’t out of the question that he could improve past Illinois, and current odds of around 10/1 make some appeal with that in mind.
If connections go down that route, he would be attempting to emulate Stradivarius, who became the first three-year-old winner of the Group 1 contest since 1990 when recording the first of his four Goodwood Cup wins in 2017.
Andrew Asquith of Timeform said: "Scandinavia proved a different proposition fitted with first-time cheekpieces in the Bahrain Trophy, producing a smart performance which propelled him towards the head of the ante-post market for the St Leger. It is interesting that he has the option of the Goodwood Cup beforehand, though, and he would be a very interesting runner if connections did decide to go that way.
“Given how strong he was at the finish at Newmarket, he should have no problem moving up to two miles, in fact, he's likely to progress further presented with a bigger test of stamina. He's sure to be quite a bit shorter than his current double-figure price if taking his chance."
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Timeform weight-adjusted ratings (Goodwood Cup field):
129 Jan Brueghel
123 Illinois
122 Al Riffa
122 Sweet William
120+ Scandinavia
119 Dubai Future
118 Epic Poet
118 Trueshan
116 Continuous
116 Sunway
116 Military Academy
115p French Master
115 Palladium
115 Puppet Master
112 Galveston
109 Subsequent
107 Furthur
106 Shackleton
Main Photo credit: Alamy
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