Since winning La Coupe at Paris Longchamp in June, Goliath had been somewhat underwhelming in a pair of defeats in France. There were certainly excuses on quick ground behind Calandagan in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, but less so in the Hong Kong Jockey Club at Deauville last month, where he struggled to hold off Andre Fabre’s First Look in the closing stages. His final furlong of 11.56s was ranked 3rd of 4 at Deauville, but the recent rain has clearly helped this son of Alderflug, who seemed to enjoy getting into a strong rhythm on the front end on Sunday afternoon. The fastest horse into stride, he took just 5.6s to reach 30 mph from the stalls and despite being drawn wider in stall 8, he was quickly across under Clement Lecouevre to lead the field into the first turn. Once there, he controlled the pace before getting the crucial first run across to the stands side rail. Leading the field into the closing stages, Goliath was able to hold that rail position, forcing Dubai Honour to switch inside to make his challenge, a manoeuvre that cost vital time in the penultimate furlong and which ultimately appears to have won Goliath the race. This was “track craft” at its very best from Lecouevre, who understood the need to get across to the better ground and despite the runner-up producing faster splits for 3 of the final 4-furlongs, he was unable to reel in Goliath when the gaps didn’t appear in front of him.

A winning time of 2:29.02 was 0.99s slower than Fantastic Moon 12-months ago, but it compares well when we look further back, as only the 2024 winner produced a quicker winning time since 2008 in this race. The ground has clearly paid a part in that time, but having made virtually every yard of the running, it does at least suggest that Goliath has taken a step back in the right direction. Dubai Honour has been on his travels and has recorded good performances in Australia and Hong Kong in the last 12-months. However, this was his first start since finishing 4th in the Champions Cup at Sha Tin in May and yet, having recorded a longer average stride length figure than the winner and been quicker than Goliath over the final half a mile, William Haggas’ team might feel that they have missed an opportunity to land a Group 1 success. Tom Marquand had the right idea and attempted to switch to the all-important rail, but Goliath and Lecouevre got there first and having closed the door, they were never likely to open it to Dubai Honour. He has run well and continues to hold his form consistently, but having been slightly fortunate to beat him, there is a sense from the form and the times data to suggest that Goliath was not back to his imperious best, despite the fact that he has added another Group 1 to his CV for his all conquering trainer.