National hero Lee now tipped to make it into top 10 of Flat stars

he may have won a Grand National and been a leading rider at the Cheltenham Festival – but few victories will have given a modest Graham Lee more satisfaction than his nerveless victory on Hawkeyethenoo in the Blue Square Bet Stewards’ Cup, one of Flat racing’s most prestigious and illustrious sprints.

Just months after injury prompted him to quit National Hunt racing to pursue a second career on the Flat, North Yorkshire-based Lee used every ounce of his tactical knowhow to inch along the far rail in the 27-runner cavalry charge at Glorious Goodwood – and then hold off the late challenge of Imperial Guest by a nose.

And further big race successes are sure to follow, according to Jim Goldie, the trainer of the ultra-consistent Hawkeyethenoo and a man who has been pivotal to Lee’s career from the time – around 15 years ago – when he was a raw apprentice at Mary Reveley’s Saltburn yard.

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This game sprinter – third in the Wokingham Stakes at Royal Ascot and fifth in the Group One July Cup at Newmarket on bottomless ground – appears to have thrived under Lee’s horsemanship.

“He’s a terrific horse and he has been very unlucky this year, so it’s a good race to get a bit of luck,” said Goldie whose stables are near Glasgow.

“He carried a lot of weight and it will be interesting to see where we go next. He’s in the Haydock race, the Betfred Sprint Cup early next month, and the obvious race we’d like to win is the Ayr Gold Cup, but we never seem to get our ground there.

“I’ve used Graham since the start of his career and he’s ridden a terrific race today. This horse has never let us down and I’m chuffed to bits with him.

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“He was just a young lad. It wasn’t that successful to start with, but we have built up a great relationship over the years. As he will say, he has improved a lot.

“To start with, he had a lot to learn but he was young and enthusiastic. Now he is an ultra professional who takes his job very seriously.

“For a jockey who has come from the jumping game, his weight is very good – I don’t think he has been in a sauna yet. Saturday was his first day at Glorious Goodwood and he had one winner, and three seconds, from four rides.”

Goldie has no doubt that Lee will continue to prosper on the Flat provided that the jockey continues to improve at the current rate – the rider only made the transition just over three months ago and now has 34 winners to his name.

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“I’m coming from a biased point of view but he’s not far from being a top 10 rider,” the softly-spoken Goldie told the Yorkshire Post as he savoured the magnitude of Hawkeyethenoo’s win.

“It’s a great achievement. Graham’s agent, Richard Hale, his friend Niall Hannity and myself, there’s plenty of us watching and giving him the benefit of our opinion.

“If you’re a good rider and if you’ve got good balance, as Graham has, experience of riding on the Flat will take you to the next level.

“He may not have the absolute instinct of when to move in a race, particularly a sprint, but that will come as he rides in more races.

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“You have to remember the likes of Kieren Fallon, Richard Hughes and Ryan Moore, the very top riders, have had a lifetime of experience and Graham’s just been riding against them for a few months.

“How many jockeys have won a Grand National, Scottish National and been top jockey at Cheltenham? Not many. And because of that, Graham is unflappable, as people saw in the Stewards’ Cup.”

As for the jockey, who lives near Bedale with his young family, he said in the winner’s enclosure: “I’m overwhelmed – I’m delighted for the horse. Jim has been great for me, he’s given me great support. His horses haven’t been flying, but for this horse to get us off the cold list is brilliant.”

Goldie reports Hawkeyethenoo, a six-year-old who has won eight of his 34 career starts, to be in fine fettle after the six furlong Stewards’ Cup which was landed so memorably 12 months ago by Mick Easterby’s Hoof It, co-owned by golfer Lee Westwood, and who has disappointed in subsequent runs.

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“He got home and he seems fine. He’s eaten up and he’s nice and relaxed,” said Goldie of his charge.

“He’s been banging on the door and it was nice to get the luck in running this time.

“Everything went to plan. It was handy they left that gap on the far side and he picked up really well when it mattered. He probably idled a wee bit in front. He could go to Haydock next, but we’ll have to see what the handicapper does. There is a certain race at Ayr we would obviously like to win!”

Group One races are being won by John Gosden at almost the rate of British Olympic golds this summer as The Fugue became the latest of a frequently expanding list in the Markel Insurance Nassau Stakes.

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For the first time in the six Gosden has accumulated so far, the glory was not shared with William Buick, as he had been instructed to ride the stable’s 7-4 favourite and eventual sixth Izzi Top.

The Fugue, who won York’s Musidora Stakes in May, had left her trainer piqued when only third after a troublesome passage in the Oaks and Gosden’s sense of indignation seemed to have finally drained away after she was given a typically masterful Goodwood ride from supersub Richard Hughes.

Timepiece, demonstrating why Sir Henry Cecil was persevering with her after an ordinary start to a fourth season in training, nearly caused an upset with Tom Queally catching his rivals off-guard in front.

But Hughes pulled his mount wide with a furlong remaining to cover her run and eventually swept a length clear. “If anyone deserved to win a Group One race, it was her,” said Gosden. “There is no point talking about the Oaks any more, but it was a pretty horrific affair.

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“Andrew and Madeleine Lloyd Webber (owners) were keen to come here but it was only after I walked the track this morning that we confirmed she would run. She’s got very small ballerina feet and got stuck in the ground at Royal Ascot, but she showed her class.”

Explaining the booking of Buick for Izzi Top, Gosden said: “I sort of told him he had to ride her as she was the Group One winner and the other horse was not certain to run. She got stuck three wide and ran with the choke out, but that’s life.

Our main idea is for The Fugue to go for the Yorkshire Oaks and then the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf.”

Today’s race cards: Page 12.