GLORIOUS Goodwood started with a bang for North Yorkshire trainer David O'Meara and jockey Danny Tudhope.

The in-form pair teamed up to win the opening Unibet Handicap at the Sussex course with Fayez, who gained his first win on turf away from his beloved Ripon when getting up in the closing strides.

Weaving his way through rivals, the five-year-old found daylight close to the far rail, before hitting the front deep inside the final furlong and holding the equally fast-finishing Jazeel at bay by half a length.

Upper Helmsley-based O'Meara said of the 25-1 winner: "We went out not with huge expectations. This horse has done a lot of winning around Ripon and it seems that track brings the best out of him.

"He is a horse that needs to be put to sleep and hunt away with, and it either works out or not. If he had got stopped it would not be the end of the world.

"He has had a really good year this horse. When things work out for him he can be very good, but he needs a lot of luck in running and he got it.

"This is about his best trip."

Stradivarius strengthened his grip on the staying division with a third successive victory in the Qatar Goodwood Cup.

John Gosden's star stayer enjoyed a faultless campaign in 2018 - winning the Yorkshire Cup, the Gold Cup, the Goodwood Cup and the Lonsdale Cup to land a huge bonus through the inaugural Weatherbys Hamilton Stayers' Million.

For good measure, the five-year-old added the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup back at Ascot in October to his seasonal haul, and has continued in the same vein this term - with successful defences of the Yorkshire Cup and the Gold Cup setting up his Goodwood hat-trick bid.

The Bjorn Nielsen-owned chestnut was a warm order to emulate the hugely popular Double Trigger by becoming a three-time winner, and the 4-5 favourite ultimately did so with the minimum of fuss.

Frankie Dettori was happy to play a waiting game as the Tim Easterby-trained Wells Farhh Go set a strong pace and quickly opened up a huge lead. He began to faltered, however, and it was left for the big guns to fight it out.

Gold Cup runner-up Dee Ex Bee did his best to draw the finish out of Stradivarius, while Melbourne Cup hero and Gold Cup fourth Cross Counter travelled into the race smoothly.

But neither could live with the trademark finishing kick of Stradivarius and he was good value for the winning margin of a neck over Dee Ex Bee, with Dettori celebrating before passing the post.

Gosden said: "He is a gorgeous horse. Wells Farhh Go is smart and I know he went too hard, but it is a dangerous thing to give someone 25 lengths around here and he is a good horse.

"He was wide early in a muddle, then he got where he wanted and followed Cross Counter and he is a proper horse as he and Dee Ex Bee are good older horses.

"It is still good ground as the rain has come, but it has blasted through and it has not sat over us. He probably would have won in good to soft, but that is not his favourite.

"He can quicken and horses that can quicken want top of the ground. It is the great weapon they have, and if you take that away it blunts them.

"I was not comfortable early in the race - from halfway through the race I was comfortable, as I knew he was tracking a proper horse in Cross Counter and with Dee Ex Bee in his sights I knew Frankie had them in his line.

"He came and won his race and then our great hero (Dettori) started waving at the crowd. I must say that's a little dangerous as the horse is a pro and when Frankie said that's enough he said, 'OK, I'll put the brakes on'.

"It was lucky Frankie didn't go over the handlebars, I thought."

Dettori said: "He's a push-button ride. He follows any pace and he's a stayer with a turn of foot.

"I was sitting pretty two furlongs out and had everything covered. He gets to the front and thinks he's done enough, but what a horse to ride - he's a jockey's dream.

"He's a bit of a boy and knows he's good. He only does what he has to do and is never going to be flashy and win by 10 lengths, but at least doing it this way he has got more chance to stay in training for a long time."

Sir Dancealot successfully defended his crown in the Qatar Lennox Stakes.

David Elsworth's charge is something of a seven-furlong specialist, with six of his eight previous wins coming over this distance - including three Group-race successes last season.

So far this year the five-year-old had finished respectable seventh in the Lockinge before placing fourth in a Listed event at York, but he showed his true colours back on the Sussex Downs.

Hey Gaman was the 5-2 favourite for James Tate and Frankie Dettori and hit the front racing inside the final two furlongs.

However, Gerald Mosse played his cards late on 6-1 shot Sir Dancealot and it proved a good call as he came home best to prevail by a length.

Suedois narrowly beat Joseph O'Brien's Irish raider Speak In Colours to third place.

Elsworth was delighted to get himself off the cold list, having not saddled a winner since Dandhu won the Fred Darling at Newbury on April 13.

He said: "I've not had a winner since April and that was a Group Three - I've not had a winner since last dung-spreading time! Seriously, it's been tough, but you just don't lose your nerve."