Andrew Balding defends Oisin Murphy's Coltrane ride after Quickthorn leaves Goodwood rivals trailing

Andrew Balding defended Oisin Murphy's ride aboard Coltrane in the Goodwood Cup and believes he would not have beaten the runaway winner Quickthorn had the jockey made his move sooner.

Coltrane, who was last seen finishing second in the 2m4f Gold Cup at Ascot, travelled strongly behind the leader into the home straight but eventually faded to finish a six-length third. 

"Obviously it wasn't what we intended," the trainer said. "We hoped we'd be able to sit a little bit closer but he would have just been out of his comfort zone if Oisin had tried to lay up closer. No one else was planning on doing so, so he had to go for him a bit earlier.