3 minute read

John Gosden registered his first winner for Godolphin when Tempus Temporis booked his ticket for Good Friday by winning the Betsi Golden Mile Conditions Stakes as racing took place at Chelmsford City for the first time.

The Essex circuit, formerly known as Great Leighs, closed in January 2009 after going into administration less than a year after it launched, but was here reopening under a new name.

Gosden looks like being the chief beneficiary of the decision to run all the horses previously owned by Princess Haya of Jordan, Sheikh Mohammed's wife, in the Godolphin blue.

Tempus Temporis was a winner last time out and was stepping up in class for the £20,000 Fast Track Qualifier, but Robert Havlin always looked confident and the 11-4 chance beat Super Kid by an easy five lengths.

Jono Mills, representing Godolphin, said: "I would anticipate that the All-Weather Championship is exactly where we'll go, but we'll go home and check with John and the team and then a decision will be made."

Gosden had earlier won with the game Zamoura in the SIS Maiden Fillies' Stakes. She was sent off the 2-5 favourite after a promising second on debut, but looked a sitting duck in the straight until she kept on pulling out more for Nicky Mackay to beat Duchess Of Marmite by a head.

The jockey said: "She's still green and I thought I was beaten, but she just held on. Hopefully there's more to come from her. The track rides lovely, it's very nice to ride."

The Godolphin colours had already been carried to victory in an eventful first race as Tryster edged out Gaelic Silver in a pulsating finish to the Betfred Handicap.

The 2-1 market leader was produced with a telling run in the straight but j ust as it looked as though he would win comprehensively, he hung violently to his left, running across Gaelic Silver. The two lunged to the line as one, but the judge called Tryster the winner by a short head.

Jockey Adam Kirby said: "He's still a bit of a baby and lacks a bit of experience. He just looked at something up the straight and had a duck out, but there was loads underneath me. I was quite surprised as I thought it (the track) was a little bit deep, but it's a sound surface. It's perfect."

The stewards inevitably called an inquiry following the interference between the first two, but the placings remained unaltered.

Mills, representing winning trainer Charlie Appleby, said: "It's only his fourth start and he's already a winner once. This was a learning curve to see if he likes the surface, and he did. He caught something in the corner of his eye, but it was a progressive step and he's going in the right direction."

Kirby and Appleby made it a double when Blue Aegean was a comfortable winner of the Weatherbys Printing Handicap.

Members of the public without pre-booked tickets were not admitted, but generally the reaction among the estimated 750 people present, including invited guests and connections of the runners, seemed favourable.

That was despite some small setbacks including a tumble dryer blowing up that created some very brief power outages.

Seddik Hamla from Harlow in Essex, one of the invited guests, said: "I came here when it was Great Leighs four or five times and it definitely wasn't as good as this - this place is really nice. It's better than places like Lingfield and they've really spent a few quid. I'll be coming back soon as they've done it really well and what I've seen so far is very, very good."

Philip Siers, racecourse managing director, welcomed racegoers and said: "We've got 58 fixtures here this year and we only bought it in December of 2013 and we've collapsed a two-year construction project into one year.

"The weather hasn't helped us and we've a couple of small things to do which will be completed by the end of January, and we've limited the crowd on that basis. We've spent £15 million on the track as we want to have a facility that helps racing and all of racing's constituents.

"This is the first of possibly three trial fixtures - we certainly want one more. The official opening will be on February 1, when we'll be open to the public, although we might increase the crowd gradually, perhaps up to 1000/1200 for the January 22 fixture.

"We've got overall prize money of £2.2 million this year, which is a considerable investment by us. For a small track that is a significant amount and we're hoping to get some big corporate sponsors, with the money ploughed back into the facilities and prize money.

"We have a couple of significant fixtures here - March 28, which is World Cup night at Meydan, and September 26, which is Breeders' Cup Trial night."

Joe Scanlon, racecourse chairman, added: "This is a preview and you don't open a production on Broadway or the West End without a preview. I know people are disappointed not to be at the inaugural meeting, but it's for all the right reasons."