GEORGE WASHINGTON almost took Goodwood by storm yesterday. He almost behaved in his customary cantankerous manner. He almost sweated up like a pursued bull. He almost displayed the blistering acceleration he showed in the 2,000 Guineas. And he almost protested when asked to enter the unsaddling enclosure. Almost, but not quite.

It was that sort of day. Those enticed to the Sussex downs craved a sight of the horse at his mercurial best, but it wasn’t meant to be. Everything about his defeat in the totesport Celebration Mile was underpinned by two factors. It was his first outing for three months, and connections had their eyes trained on an imminent horizon. This was no more than a public dress rehearsal and Aidan O’Brien, who trains the closest thing to racing box office, went home a happy man.

Numerous factors militated against a dazzling display from the one three-year-old colt in whom hope still survives. At first glance, it speaks uncharitably of George Washington that he could not reel in Caradak and Killybegs, whose rally came up short. For Dettori, who rode Caradak, victory offered small compensation for the trophies and medals — among them his MBE — that were stolen from his house on Friday evening.

In George Washington’s case, any number of “firsts” took precedence over winning a race that would add nothing whatsoever to his CV. The most striking among them was the man on his back, since Mick Kinane had never previously ridden the feisty colt. This prompted O’Brien to offer Kinane a lengthy pre-race discourse about the colt’s wilful ways.

River Tiber, who accompanied George Washington from Ballydoyle, was not so much a pacemaker as an expensive nanny. He was even obliged to stand by his stablemate when George Washington was saddled in the open spaces of the pre-parade ring. Indeed, George Washington’s every whim was catered for to the extent that a horse was brought specially from Ireland to lead him in and out of the winner’s circle.

From these early signs it was clear George Washington was preparing for next month’s Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot. Nothing subsequent to the elaborate pre-race process served to disabuse the notion. He was slowly away; deliberately so, since he can be headstrong in the extreme. And his inaugural taste of racing round a bend — right-handed, as it will be at Ascot — saw Kinane nurse him along with little thought to the runaway leader 20 lengths ahead of him.

Only in the home straight did Kinane dig his heels into George Washington. The combination found themselves isolated on the far rail as the rest of the field fanned wide, yet George Washington duly improved his position approaching the final furlong. And that’s the way he finished, gradually gaining on the leaders without ever threatening to overhaul them.

Once again the purists found fault with the way he wavered around in the home straight. It was ever thus; it was even worse with his half-brother, the enigmatic Grandera. But that’s just the way George Washington is. He was equally ungainly in the final furlong at Newmarket, yet none questioned his brilliance then.

O’Brien, for his part, had seen more than enough. “I couldn’t be happier,” he said. “It was not about winning today, it was about coming here and doing things right. Mick said he was very rusty, which we were expecting as he hasn’t been off the bridle at home. What pleased me most was that his last furlong was his best furlong. All the signs are positive.”

The trainer also ventured that the injury George Washington sustained in the Irish 2,000 Guineas would in normal circumstances have ended his season. “He pulled muscles from his pelvis to his hocks,” O’Brien said. “We’re lucky to have him back because if he hadn’t made today, his season would have been over. Pray God he is OK in the morning.”

While George Washington continues to rehabilitate, it emerged that Septimus, his stablemate, is most unlikely to contest the St Leger on Saturday week. Ladbrokes, sponsors of the season’s final classic, removed the Sadler’s Wells colt from their betting lists, in the process tightening Sixties Icon into 6-4 favourite and Youmzain to 4-1.

While most left Goodwood absorbed with George Washington’s performance, Marco Botti was celebrating his first group victory since he set up shop in Newmarket earlier this year. A clear-cut Normandie Stud Prestige Stakes victory for Sesmen, who carried the Falbrav colours, allows the former Italian handler to dream big over the winter.