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Johnny Murtagh’s Take Heart landed the opening race of the Al Shaqab Goodwood Festival.
The Johnny Murtagh-trained Take Heart recorded a third success of his career when coming home a neck in front of the well-fancied Enfaar at Goodwood.
Take Heart had finished four and a half lengths behind the market leader when the pair met at Goodwood on their last outing but armed with a swing in the weights and quicker conditions, he was able to reverse the form on the downs.
Ben Coen would have expected to have his work cut out from stall eighteen, but the talented Irishman worked his way into a handy enough position and once Coen kicked his mount to lead over a furlong out, the son of Dark Angel always looked to hanging on.
"Ben said he was going to sit closer," said Murtagh. "In York, we got a bad draw and he had to drop in, he said they didn't go fast. I thought the make-up of the race suggested they would go fast but they didn't, and he stayed on in the end.
"He did a nice piece of work the other day and Ben said he would be a bit more aggressive from the gates.
"He was closer than probably we had planned but he said they were going so slow that he brought him into the race, and he done it very well.
"After York, I thought we had a chance of winning one of these big handicaps. I fancied him in York. I knew the draw was going to be difficult. I was disappointed but when you look back, he was only beaten four and a half lengths."
A trip to Irish Champions weekend for another valuable handicap appears next on the agenda according to Murtagh.
He added: "I think he's a mile and a quarter horse. At the start of the year, I thought he would stay a mile and a half, but he's got a bit quicker this year, with the cheekpieces on him.
"There is a big handicap on Champions weekend in Ireland, it's a mile and a mile-and-a-quarter race which I had pencilled in for him, but I've not spoken to anyone from the team yet, so we'll have to see what they want to do."