Raceday LIVE – Rockstar Icon
Related horse(s):
Rockstar IconRead our Raceday LIVE Preview below and join us ahead of the race for all the build-up and live updates from the track with the team and all our the Coral Racing Club members who are there today across our social channels on X (@coral) and Instagram (@coralofficial).
Raceday LIVE Preview
Today is one of the most exciting days for the club since it launched back in November 2022, as Rockstar Icon heads to Goodwood in search of his second win of his career in the fiercely competitive Class 3 Handicap at 17:55.
Rockstar Icon joined the club in April last year as an unnamed two-year-old along with trainers Paul & Oliver Cole, and it was one of our very own members who named him following our Name Your Horse competitions.
So how has he ended up at Glorious Goodwood today? Let us tell you...
Rockstar Icon made his debut for the club at Windsor at the end of May in 2023 in a novice stakes race over six furlongs, in which he finished in seventh place.
Although it was only a Class 5 contest, several who finished ahead of Rockstar Icon that day went on to give the form plenty of credit, including Inquisitively (now named Fast Responder after moving to Hong Kong), who subsequently finished third in the Windsor Castle at Royal Ascot before winning a Listed race at York, and then a Group 3 contest at Newmarket.
Almost two months later, he had his second run at Haydock where he was stepped up to seven furlongs and he displayed plenty of improvement from his first run, only just getting touched off by a strong 11/10 favourite trained by Archie Watson. He didn't get the run of the race that day either and it could've been very different had he been able to get a clearer passage down the home straight. That was a big step up in grade as well with it being a Class 2 race, and although he finished second, he still landed over £6,000 in prize money for his 10 lucky Owners for the Day.
Unfortunately following that performance he had to sit on the sidelines until New Years Eve after suffering a hairline fracture in his shin, and during that time the team at Whatcombe Stables decided it'd be a good opportunity to geld him before his next race to help him improve to stay focus and concentrated when in action.
Although it was frustrating given how much promise he'd shown, it was worth the wait, as Oliver Cole found the perfect opportunity for Rockstar Icon to see the club into 2024 in style as on his next start, he put in an emphatic performance from the front under Coral Ambassador, David Probert, and came home a comfortable winner on just his third start at Lingfield on the all-weather.
WATCH: Rockstar Icon makes it third time lucky at Lingfield
Following his victory at Lingfield, he was given an opening handicap mark of 80, and the Cole team did consider trying to find a suitable race over in France for him but sadly weren't able to, but just for the fact they did, it gave us an idea how much they thought of him.
As they couldn't find him a suitable race soon after his Lingfield win, Paul and Oliver decided to give him a break and allow him plenty of time to recover, grow and progress. Fast forward to May this year and next on the agenda was a Class 4 Handicap over seven furlongs at Newmarket on 2000 Guineas Day.
Given he'd been off the track for 125 days, we thought it would be a case of him needing the run to blow the cobwebs away, but to our surprise he put in a fantastic effort finishing fifth in a competitive 19-runner field. And just like a couple of his previous races, this was another which so far has had several form boosts.
The winner that day, Key To Cotai, followed it up with a second place finish in a listed race at Carlisle, plus the second, fourth, fifth and eleventh placed finishers have all gone on to win in one of their recent efforts.
WATCH: Rockstar Icon's promising reappearance at Newmarket
And now we're here today at Glorious Goodwood with the hope that Rockstar Icon can take another step forward and put in a big performance on Nassau Stakes day.
WATCH: Raceday Message from Oliver Cole
Rockstar Icon's Owners for the Day
As winners of the Owner for the Day competition, 10 lucky Coral Racing Club members have been given the chance to enjoy an exclusive owners experience for Rockstar Icon's run at Goodwood this afternoon.
Each winner, along with a guest of their choosing, will receive free entry to Goodwood Racecourse, including exclusive access to Owners & Trainers areas. They'll have the opportunity to meet Rockstar Icon and the Paul & Oliver Cole team, plus get to head into the parade ring before the race begins to be amongst all the other owners, trainers and jockeys. And last but by no means least, each winner will get to take home an equal 10% split of any prize money won by Rockstar Icon.
Today's Class 3 contest is worth £35,000 in total, with the winner set to scoop £18,039 for their lucky owners.
2nd: £8,459.50 | 3rd: £4,231.50 | 4th: £2,114 | 5th: £1,057 | 6th: £528.50
Trainer and Jockey Statistics
Paul & Oliver Cole have only sent out five runners in the last 14 days, with just one of them finishing in the places. However, they do have a 19% strike-rate at Goodwood from 58 runners and with four entries at the Sussex track today, they'll no doubt be hoping they can add to their total so far.
Jim Crowley has been in great form over the past couple of weeks riding seven winners from 29 rides, with one of those victories being at Goodwood yesterday on the Owen Burrows trained Raqiya. Remarkably, across his entire career, Jim has had more rides at Goodwood than any other track in the UK. From a total of 817 rides, he's notched up 94 wins, with a further 162 hitting either second or third place.
WATCH: Jim Crowley previews his ride on Rockstar Icon
Racing Post | Spotlight Comment on Rockstar Icon
Gelded prior to justifying favouritism at Lingfield (7f, AW) on final attempt in 2yo novice events; attracted support into 14-1 on handicap debut at Newmarket (7f, good) in May and he ran well to finish fifth of 19; returns after another break but he has a progressive profile and this step up to 1m looks a good move on pedigree.
Today's Opposition
- Treasure Time has improved for the step up in trip in recent weeks and following a victory at Newmarket in June when beating Jungle Mac, he went very close to making it back-to-back successes when just getting touched off by Godolphin's First Conquest. Tom Marquand takes the reins today which is a positive booking.
- Qirat reappeared at Goodwood this season with a promising victory over seven furlongs before going on to finish sixth in the Britannia Stakes at Royal Ascot and then coming home in fifth in the same contest Treasure Time finished second in. Ryan Moore retains the ride, but will having to shoulder top weight prove too much?
- Native King is trained by fellow Coral Racing Club trainer, Hugo Palmer, and in today's blog he mentioned the three-year-old colt looks fantastic and believes if the race is run to suit, then jockey Jamie Spencer will be the man to get the best out of him.
17:55 GOODWOOD – LATEST ODDS
We hope you enjoyed reading today's Raceday LIVE Preview. Don't forget to tune in just before 17:55 to watch Rockstar Icon's next run for the club live on the Coral Sports app.