Dragon Leader is headed back to Goodwood

After a profitable juvenile season, Clive Cox's Dragon Leader will start his three-year-old campaign in a valuable handicap.

In a sales race at York last year, the chestnut made a good impression. He had already won twice before and easily won by four and a half lengths.

The colt easily covered the £45,000 he had cost as a yearling with that win alone, which was almost £150,000. He then set his sights on a further £300,000 sales prize at Doncaster.

After finishing second to Kevin Ryan's Room Service there with a total earnings of almost £60,000, he advanced to the Listed level and made a memorable end to the term by winning the Two Year Old Trophy at Redcar.

Connections had been waiting for favourable conditions to start his three-year-old campaign, and now the conditions are improving, he is scheduled to compete in the £100,000 Harroways Handicap Stakes, which will take place over seven furlongs at Goodwood on May 25.

“He’s very well, the ground has been a bit too soft to start him off,” said Sam Hoskins of owners Kennet Valley Syndicates. “There’s a £100,000 seven-furlong handicap at Goodwood and that’s his aim, the plan was to have a run before but I think with the ground he’s probably going to go straight there. He’s rated 96, although he won a Listed race he was favourably weighted at the time so hopefully he’s got some scope off that rating. He’s been a real money-spinner and we hope he can continue to do so. He's done really well physically over the winter and it’s great that we’ve got the option of running him in a handicap.”