Rip Van's the man at Glorious Goodwood (From The Northern Echo)

Rip won very tidily I think...

Rip Van's the man at Glorious Goodwood (From The Northern Echo): "RIP Van Winkle tore the BGC Sussex Stakes field at Glorious Goodwood to pieces and earned an elusive Group One success after a series of nearmisses against dual Classic winner Sea The Stars.
A catalogue of problems have beset Aidan O’Brien’s colt throughout the summer, and he provided all concerned with an 11th-hour injury scare on Tuesday evening when a crack appeared on his nearhind hoof.

Fourth to Sea The Stars in both the 2000 Guineas and Derby before finishing second to him in the Eclipse, his participation went right down to the wire, with O’Brien even accompanying the son of Galileo down to the start to monitor his condition.


But with no apparent signs of lameness, the 6-4 favourite broke tidily from the stalls under Johnny Murtagh and stole the show on day two of the meeting.


Murtagh sent Rip Van Winkle on his way turning for home at halfway in mile showpiece, and the market leader bounded clear to get off the mark for 2009 by two and a half lengths.
A foot infection in the spring has hindered the winner ever since, with O’Brien claiming it ‘‘very unusual’’ for his charge to have raced on this year after that setback.


O’Brien, winning the race for the fourth time and following up from Henrythenavigator 12 months ago, said: ‘‘We are over the moon with what has happened and we’re so pleased that he has shown everybody what he shows us everyday, and having had to overcome everything yesterday evening."