Legatissimo takes Nassau Stakes as favorite

Legatissimo won her second Group 1 race of the year by a convincing 2 1/4 lengths in Saturday’s $934,860 Nassau Stakes on the final day of the Goodwood meeting in England.

Ridden by Wayne Lordan for trainer David Wachman, Legatissimo, the 2-1 favorite, pulled clear in the final furlong to beat 10-1 Wedding Vow, trained by Aidan O’Brien. Arabian Queen, a 25-1 outsider, finished third in the field of nine. Star of Seville, the winner of the Group 1 French Oaks in June, could only finish seventh after setting the pace in the race at 1 1/4 miles on turf.

Legatissimo and Wedding Vow are owned by Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Sue Magnier.

Legatissimo won the English 1000 Guineas in May but was second in two Group 1 races in June – the English Oaks at Epsom Downs and the Pretty Polly Stakes at The Curragh.

By Danehil Dancer, Legatissimo has won four of nine starts, including a minor stakes in Ireland in April. She was one of seven 3-year-old fillies in the Nassau Stakes.

“She showed a really good turn of foot, just as she did in the Guineas,” Wachman said. “I would say anything between a mile and 10 furlongs is ideal for her.”

Saturday’s Goodwood program was the final day in the career of three-time champion jockey Richard Hughes, who will begin training later this year.

Hughes announced earlier this year that he would retire in the second half of the year and pushed forward the date so he could began training young horses with an eye on the final months of this year and the 2016 season.

Hughes, 42, won 31 races at Royal Ascot in England. In the United States, his top win was the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf aboard Chriselliam at Santa Anita in 2013. He was the leading rider in England for three years from 2012-14.