Evening Saigon, a 16-1 chance ridden by James Doyle from stall 10, won the £250k Stewards' Cup at Glorious Goodwood on Saturday.
The victory came on the afternoon when Jim Crowley, the 2016 champion Flat jockey, announced his retirement from race-riding following a serious fall at York in August 2025.
Close finish on the far side
Trainers had expected the high-numbered stalls to hold an edge in the feature handicap, but Evening Saigon moved smoothly towards the lead on the far side with around a furlong to run and stayed on well to beat Stratusnine, drawn five, with Mitbaahy, from stall 25, first across the line on the stands' side in third.
Double for Al Jehani and Wathnan Racing
The win completed an impressive double in Glorious Goodwood's biggest handicaps for trainer Hamad Al Jehani, who saddled Archivist, also at 16-1, to land the Golden Mile on Friday. It was also a seventh winner of the week for Evening Saigon's owner, the Qatar-based Wathnan Racing operation.
"James had a bit of a hard choice [from three Wathnan-owned runners] but he was pretty firm on riding this lad in the end," Richard Brown, the operation's racing adviser, said.
"If you look at Hamad’s statistics since he started training, they match up with the best trainers in the country. He’s a phenomenal horseman and was a very good rider himself. He’s a great horseman and he’s formed a great team."
Crowley calls time on riding career
Earlier in the afternoon, the weighing room paid tribute to Crowley, who is hanging up his boots after struggling to recover from serious injuries sustained in a fall at York 11 months ago.
Crowley began as a jump jockey before switching to the Flat, and was crowned champion jockey in 2016 before being hired as the No 1 jockey to the powerful Shadwell Racing operation, founded by the late Sheikh Hamdan al-Maktoum.
The best horses ridden by Crowley in Shadwell's blue-and-white colours included the brilliant miler Baaeed, one of the best sprinters of recent years in Battaash and the King George winner Hukum.
"It’s been a great career," Crowley said on Saturday. "It’s just unfortunate that after my accident at York, my body couldn’t get back to the level I want to be to race-ride again.
"I never imagined this happening when I came from jumping and I was fortunate to ride all over the world and for some of the best trainers in the world."
