Ascot Gold Cup one-two Scandinavia and Trawlerman are set for another battle in the Group 1 Goodwood Cup (3200m) on the opening day of the Glorious Goodwood Festival.

The pair provided the Royal meeting with an exhilarating finish as Aidan O’Brien’s Scandinavia and the John and Thady Gosden-trained Trawlerman matched strides in the closing 200m, leaving the latter to win by a head in the Group 1 Gold Cup (4000m).

“Everything has gone well with Scandinavia since, and all this year as well,” said O’Brien. “We were delighted with him at Ascot. He’s in good form.

“He’ll never win by very far. He just does enough - it’s very hard to gauge how much is in there and that’s the way he has always been. He’s very like Yeats in that way; he’s a high tempo horse and finds it very easy to go a high tempo for a long time.

“I think it will be interesting [reopposing Trawlerman] but I think that is him whether the trip is a mile and a half to two and a half miles – so it is something to look forward to.

“We don’t ever think too much about those things - I didn’t even realise that to tell you the truth. We take one race at a time, and we’re just delighted to have him.”

John and Thady Gosden’s Trawlerman was making his seasonal reappearance at Ascot, having suffered from an infection which led to an unusual sight in British horse-racing - wearing sun-resistant goggles in the preliminaries. His effort has the potential to be upgraded, given the setback, and connections are hopeful of further improvement ahead of Goodwood.

“Having been sick, having looked like he would never, ever race again, it’s quite extraordinary [for him to finish second at Ascot],” said John Gosden. “He was in agony at Easter, unable to train him, left him alone, and only managed to train him in the last short period of time.

“To do that as an eight-year-old off no prep race, limited preparation time-wise, it was an unbelievable run. He just got caught in the last 10 yards — just there, the lack of a prep run cost him.”

Photo: Healy Racing