Heartache for Trawlerman with G1 Gold Cup second

Trawlerman put up another extraordinary performance in the G1 Gold Cup as he was caught in the final strides by Scandinavia in a brilliant edition of the Royal Ascot showpiece on Thursday, 18 June.

The John & Thady Gosden-trained stayer had lowered the course record when storming to victory in the two-and-a-half-mile marathon in 2025 but was making his seasonal return in the race this time following a preparation hindered by an eye problem.

Having bounced out of the gates, Trawlerman again took up the running from his 10 rivals, initially leading Scandinavia before Caballo De Mar took closer order in second with a circuit to race.

Trawlerman continued to hold a length and a half lead and appeared to have the rest of the field in trouble when kicking on for William Buick turning in, with Scandinavia the only horse able to go with the eight-year-old inside the final quarter-mile.

Scandinavia loomed up on the outside of Trawlerman over a furlong out and the duo served up a thrilling finish, with the Godolphin runner refusing to give up his advantage until his younger rival finally wrestled the lead in the shadow of the post.

A head separated Scandinavia and Trawlerman at the line, with a full nine lengths back to Sweet William in third.

John Gosden said: “What a race! It was a valiant effort. To do what Trawlerman did off no prep race, limited preparation time-wise, what an unbelievable run. He just got caught in the last 10 yards, just there the lack of a prep-run cost him. It was a phenomenal race, what racing needs, and it’s great for the crowd.

“Having been sick, and looked like he would never race again, it’s quite extraordinary. We were unable to train him, so we left him alone, and only managed to train him the last short period of time. It was the eye trouble, but the vets have done a brilliant job.

“He is an eight-year-old now taking on the brilliant, talented, new boy on the beat, who is four. We’ve only just been able to train him lately. We’ve built him up in his work, he went a mile and a quarter on the July Course, but it’s not the same as running in a prep race at Sandown, which we would have done.

“He has still run an unbelievable race and it’s a great achievement for the horse to do that. I think we will see where we want to go, now we are going to just check he is all fine. To me, it was the most exciting race to watch. A phenomenal finish between two magnificent stayers. The staying division when it’s like that is beyond exciting. To do that as an eight-year-old, having been so ill, is quite something. 

“You can have nothing but enormous pride, great work by all the team, both the vets and all of our team to produce him like this for the day. It’s an honour to be around a horse like that.”