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The five best multiple winners of the Goodwood Cup

One of the premier races for stayers, the Goodwood Cup has been won on more than one occasion by various stamina laden horses over the years.

Bucephalus took three editions of what was to become known as the Goodwood Cup back in the early 1800s and was awarded the original silver cup to keep.

As superstar stayer Stradivarius just misses out on an historic fifth Goodwood Cup, Planet Sport takes a deep breath and chooses the five best winners of the race, tough enough to clinch the modern gold cup at Goodwood more than once.

Le Moss (1979 & 1980)

Described as a "cantankerous bugger" by jockey Joe Mercer, Le Moss was a notoriously bad trainer but perhaps was saving his energy for winning the Stayers' Triple Crown, which he did twice in 1979 and 1980.
That meant that Le Moss took the Goodwood Cup on back to back occasions in a superb training feat by the late Henry Cecil.
Such was the stamina of Le Moss that Mercer was able to ease off in the 1979 edition, winning by a clear seven lengths on the four year-old from Arapahos at Glorious Goodwood.
In the Goodwood Cup of 1980, Le Moss went toe-to-toe with great rival Ardross and had to concede two pounds to the Kevin Prendergast trained stayer.
However, Le Moss always found extra when asked by Mercer and beat Ardross by a neck on the way to collecting a second Stayers' Triple Crown.
Cantankerous he may have been but they didn't come much tougher than Le Moss and he showed some of his best at Goodwood.

Persian Punch (2001 & 2003)

For a horse that had never won a Group One, Persian Punch gained huge popularity due to his sheer guts.
A gallant loser as well as a brave winner, Persian Punch was known for battling against adversity and the fact that the David Elsworth trained marathon horse won his Goodwood Cups at age eight and then 10 highlights the horse's longevity.
In many ways, Persian Punch's start to the 2001 Goodwood Cup was a little too easy as Richard Quinn broke smartly to make all the running. The eight-year-old Persian Punch was headed with three furlongs to go but somehow rallied to overhaul his three-year-old opponent Double Honour as the rain lashed down at Goodwood.
That tenacity was needed in spades in the 2003 renewal with Persian Punch a grand 10 years of age and challenged by the eager winner from 2002, Jardines Lookout.
The two horses engaged in what seemed like an endless battle with Persian Punch prevailing by a short head in one of the Goodwood Cup great moments.
Persian Punch's ashes are scattered at Goodwood, signifying the bond between the animal and course.

Yeats (2006 & 2008)

While Persian Punch was all guts, Aidan O'Brien's star stayer had that touch of class in his two Goodwood Cup wins.

Following on from the first of his four Ascot Gold Cup victories, Yeats headed to Goodwood in August 2006 as 10/11 favourite and justified that favouritism under Mick Kinane.
Held up in midfield, Kinane was able to rely on Yeats' powerful engine to push on from two out to score smoothly from Geordieland by five lengths.
That five length win was made to look small beer by his performance in the 2008 Goodwood Cup in which Yeats trounced his rivals with a seven length victory.
Kinane merely had to say go at two furlongs out to leave his opponents strung out and toiling as Yeats galloped along in a class of his own.
"Yeats is a true warrior. The crowds were out to see him and he didn't let them down" said his mightily impressed jockey Kinane.

Double Trigger (1995, 1997, 1998)

The Scottish trainer Mark Johnston is famous for downing the mighty Stradivarius with Subjectivist in the 2021 Ascot Gold Cup but he had a shimmering stayer in Double Trigger in the late '90s.
Another recipient of the prestigious Stayers' Triple Crown, Double Trigger's career was hampered by injury but had no better handler than ex-vet Johnston who set the horse stamina tests in his recuperation.
Double Trigger made all the running in the 1995 Gold Cup as the 2/1 favourite and did not disappoint the punters in a one-two for Johnston with the Scotsman's Double Eclipse, Double Trigger's brother, finishing a neck second.
Double Trigger's 1997 season was disappointing after recovering from a hoof injury but the horse showed his toughness by picking up a second Goodwood Cup. Michael Roberts was able to get Double Trigger up by one and half lengths from Goldolphin's Classic Cliche after his mount had hung left on the run in.
Johnston's stout stayer saved his best for his last year in training as a seven-year-old in 1998, showing true grit to win the Goodwood Cup by three quarters of a length from Canon Can.
Double Trigger looked off the bridle with three furlongs out but dug deep to fight back and claim the Goodwood Cup hat-trick as the horse with the white blaze showed he had what it takes at the business end of extreme distances.

Stradivarius (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)

What more can be said about Stradivarius, the horse that has got so many tunes out of long distance races he is rivalling his namesake violin manufacturer for fame.
The stayer out of the superlative Sea The Stars has won every long distance race worth winning, including picking up the Stayers' Triple Crown in 2019, of which the Goodwood Cup was a key component.
"The Strad's" combination with the black silks of Frankie Dettori is enough to demoralise his opposition in the staying ranks, winning the Goodwood Cup four years in a row since 2017.
Stradivarius beat the considerable stayer Big Orange to the Gold Cup in 2017, Irish raider Torcedor in 2018, and the Mark Johnston trained marathon horses Dee Ex Bee and Nayef Road in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

Stradivarius missed out on 2021 edition due to the soft ground, and came within a neck of claiming a fifth Goodwood Cup in 2022.

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