Delight, relief and vindication all jostled for position as Clive Cox considered his victory with Kodi Bear in the Group Two Celebration Mile here on Saturday. Cox has long been convinced that Kodi Bear would become the sixth Group One winner of his training career. The colt’s second handsome win in less than three weeks now leaves him one step away from the summit.
The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Champions Day at Ascot in mid-October, one of the few races in the British calendar with a seven-figure prize fund, is now the target for Kodi Bear, whose three-year-old season did not start until late June due to a serious infection in a leg in the spring. Solow, who will go to Ascot seeking his ninth win in a row, is sure to start as the favourite on 17 October, but Kodi Bear is improving so rapidly that he is now a very credible 8-1 chance.
Saturday’s race was another useful lesson for Kodi Bear, who had done his racing from the front in most of his seven previous starts but was settled behind the habitual pacemaker Fire Ship by Gérald Mossé, his jockey.
This was only Mossé’s second trip to Britain this year, the first having been to ride Kodi Bear to victory in a Group Three event at Salisbury earlier this month. His record in three starts on Cox-trained runners in 2015 remains perfect at three-out-of-three.
Fire Ship headed towards the stands’ rail as the field turned for home, a familiar tactic at Goodwood on rain-softened ground, and Mossé followed before taking control two furlongs out. Once Kodi Bear was in front, he slowly extended his lead to three-and-a-quarter lengths at the line, ensuring that Mossé will need another plane ticket in mid-October.
“He was special at Salisbury and he’s confirmed it today,” Cox said. “It’s probably the deepest ground he’s run on, but he’s a quality horse.
“It’s great when a plan comes together because earlier in the spring, we were worried. Potentially we always thought he could be [the best horse we’ve had]. Lots of horses sadly don’t quite reach their full potential but he’s really going the right way and I’m so, so pleased.
“I think there’s a charisma there, when you’re with them all the time, every day, there is a certain quality that you can’t explain. This fella had it and he’s proving it.”
Mossé could sense the improvement in Kodi Bear since his win at Salisbury, and also that the decision to progress steadily through the Group-race system will be rewarded.
“I do not want to make people too excited too soon, but he looks like he is a super horse,” Mossé said. “He showed me a great turn of foot, but he needs to be a bit more mature in his mind.
“He will step up to a top-class race, but it’s best to do it as Mr Cox does, going step by step. Today we sat behind the other one and he was starting to learn something, I was very pleased and he hit the line very well. The ground was a bit soft for him today I think, but he still had the engine.
“I will go anywhere with him. So long as I can keep the ride, I will be happy.”
Kodi Bear was cut to 7-1 (from 14-1) by Paddy Power for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, with Victor Chandler the only major bookmaking firm still offering a double-figure price at 10-1. Solow is the even-money favourite, with the 2,000 Guineas winner Gleneagles – who would be a doubtful starter on soft ground – next in the list at 9-2.
The Twisler, the 16-1 outsider of the field for the six-runner Listed March Stakes, emerged as a clear winner after a three-way duel with the market leaders Fun Mac and Vive Ma Fille.
Jane Chapple-Hyam’s three-year-old received quotes for the Cesarewitch Handicap afterwards but is unlikely to make the cut and is a more probable runner in the Irish November Handicap on 25 October.
