"He's very special and a fantastic horse," said Simon Crisford, Godolphin's racing manager. "We will map out a big program for him, including all the top European mile-and-a-quarter and mile-and-a-half races. Richard Hills did a fine job on Give The Slip. Although he is a good horse in his own right, Give The Slip will follow Fantastic Light round in all his races."
With stablemate Give the Slip providing an honest pace to set up the closing kick of Fantasic Light, Godolphin's 5-year-old son of Rahy edged Golden Snake in the stretch to earn a neck-length victory in the Tattersalls Gold Cup (Ire-I) on Sunday at the Curragh. In his seasonal debut, Breeders' Cup Turf (gr. IT) winner Kalanisi finished third, three lengths behind the runner-up. Give the Slip came home fourth in the six-horse field.Fantastic Light earned his first win of the year in his second 2001 appearance. In March, he was edged by a nose in the Dubai Sheema Classic (UAE-II). As a 4-year-old he earned over $4.5 million and won the Man o' War Stakes (gr. IT), the Hong Kong Cup (HK-I), and the Dubai Sheema Classic, then a group III race. Sunday's win improves his career mark to nine wins from 21 starts. He is trained for Godolphin by Saeed bin Suroor.Under Frankie Dettori, 5-4 favorite Fantastic Light completed the 1 5/16 miles in 2:13 2/5 on good to yielding turf.
