It may not look much like Summer at Goodwood this afternoon with some brutal conditions but that certainly didn’t faze Sweet William, who sluiced through the mud to land the Coral Summer Handicap.
John and Thady Gosden's progressive four-year-old was completing a hat-trick with success on the Sussex Downs this afternoon.
Confirmed front-runner Torcello took the field along for much of the contest but soon looked like a sitting duck entering the straight. Adjuvant hit the front under Frankie Dettori with a couple of furlongs to run, but Sweet William displayed the smarter turn of foot and soon swept on by for a commanding two and three-quarter length victory.
Adjuvant stayed on well to fill the runner-up spot with Euchen Glen back in third, while Torcello, to his credit stuck on gamely to finish fourth.
Sweet William already headed the market for the Sky Bet Ebor at York next month but needed to land this contest in order to have a chance of being rated high enough to make the line-up.
Paddy Power went 7/1 from 12/1 for Sweet William to gain success on the Knavesmire but that was shortly after cut to 5/1, while William Hill also make Gosden's charge 5/1.
Robert Havlin said: "He's a character all right, but he's going the right way since a gelding operation and blinkers were applied.
"I didn't want to be too handy in the race, but neither did I want to give him too much to do. I didn't want to be in front too soon, but Frankie [on runner-up Adjuvant] came and took me along. He [Sweet William] still idled a bit in the last half a furlong when he was on his own, but he has lots of potential.
"I spoke to Freddy Tylicki, who won on the dam, and he said she loved the mud, which gave me a bit of confidence.
"We're hopeful that with another penalty he could get into the Ebor, and that will probably be his next target. I don't think he needs mud, but he's handled it, he stays well, and I think he's pretty versatile with regards to ground.
"Philippa [Cooper, owner/breeder] has been brilliant to me over the years and always keeps me on her horses. I'm really grateful to her for that."
John Gosden said: He only ran a fortnight ago, but he did it really well. He is not a horse to train much at home, let him race, but he has grown up a lot. As soon as he hit the front, he starts looking around and he was checking the sign 'Farewell Frankie'! Next thing Frankie came upsides which focused his mind again.
"He is becoming more straightforward. He has been a lot of fun to train, and it was a long time until he could race for various reasons. He does have a strong view on life, and it is not necessarily where you want him to go! He is getting the idea of it well now.
"The York Ebor meeting might nearly be my favourite meeting of the year, but we have got to get in the race, that's the thing, it will be touch and go. If not, he is a horse who might one day step up the ladder to Cup races."
The going was once again changed following race two and is now heavy.
