Glorious Goodwood victory for Desert Encounter

03 August 2019



Eased slightly in class after finishing third in the Princess of Wales’s Stakes, he gave a very professional performance for jockey Jamie Spencer in scoring by two and a quarter lengths.

Now connections are planning a return an early autumn return to Woodbine for the Grade 1 Pattison Canadian International, which Desert Encounter won last year.

The seven-year-old could take in a run or two before jetting across the Atlantic Ocean again.

Trainer David Simcock said: “We’ve always said August, September and October are his time of the year.

“We’ll go Windsor then Newbury – or possibly just Newbury – then Canada. He should go there with a good chance I think.”

Simcock was very pleased with how Desert Encounter and Spencer teamed up – the first time they’d been paired in more than a year.

Desert Encounter was held up in touch for much of the mile and a half race, contested by a select field of five. 

But he began to close with just less than half a mile to go before collaring the odds-on favourite Mirage Dancer inside the final furlong.

Simcock added: “That was fun to watch. You don’t have to give Jamie too many instructions. It’s nice to see a jockey ride a horse like that.”