Brioni and Paradias make Goodwood even more glorious for Barbury!

We ended July with the frustration of seeing Rakki beaten in a photo-finish at Sandown, and 24 hours later it looked for a long way up the straight that Brioni might get August off to a flying start for Barbury, only for him to be ultimately handed the silver medal when coming off second best in a four-way blanket finish to the opener at Goodwood.

Alan was delighted with Brioni, a 22-1 chance who was having his first run since having the most unkind cut of them all after disappointing at Sandown in June.

Stressing that Vincent Ho gave Brioni a great ride, Alan said:”Gelding Brioni has definitely made a difference. He has run a corker as a furlong out I thought he was going to finish third or fourth, yet he has run on again.

“He would have been suited by easier ground than he had at Goodwood, but we got away with it. We might now give him a little break and bring him back for the slower ground in the autumn.

“Brioni is a horse who has always had a bit of class about him, but at Sandown all he wanted to do was chase the fillies down at the start, so we had to have him gelded and I think that it has definitely helped.”

Happily, on the final day of Glorious Goodwood, Paradias, relishing the fast ground, ended our run of second-itis when finding an extra gear in the last 200 yards to wear down Native Warrior and Rowayeh in the valuable mile and a quarter handicap.

Rossa Ryan, who has struck up a successful relationship with Alan over the last couple of years, was full of praise for Paradias, He said:”The horse deserved that, and it takes a pretty decent one to defy 10st 2lb, especially after being slowly away.

“That run at Epsom was Paradias’s first run of the year, so this was a solid effort. I suspect he would have been close up in the market had he not run so poorly in the John Smith’s Cup at York, where the soft ground was all against him.

“Make no mistake, Paradias is a good, honest character, so it was good to see him get his head in front. He’s always been a horse who ran on the keen side, but now he is getting older he is calming down and realising that things are a lot easier that way, He could build on this and go from strength to strength, and later on I think he might get a mile and a half,”