For those wondering why this is appearing on line quite as early as it is, simples – I am at Goodwood on the sauce Thursday afternoon and simply cannot trust myself to put together anything remotely coherent for you by the time I have finished – though whether the bank balance will stretch to that much booze at a racecourse does seem open to question and I will have needed a winner or two to get me through the day.
One more day of fun to go in deepest darkest Sussex and lets all hope we can go out with more of a bang than a whimper…
1.50pm – A higher class start to the card this afternoon with the Group Three Oak Tree Stakes over the seven furlongs and the expected competitive line-up of a huge nineteen runners (declared overnight) which is a massive field in the circumstances. Frankie Dettori looks an interesting booking on board Ed Walker’s Royal Intervention after the daughter of Exceed And Excel won over a furlong shorter at York in the Summer Stakes last month. She should go well if she gets this trip as will Beyond Reason who is reported to have improved considerably for her return to action at Sandown last month when weakening over a furlong further. She came mighty close to the suggestion here were it not for Sir Michael Stoute’s Coronation Stakes third Jubiloso who is interesting if she has the pace to cope with the drop back in trip after looking one paced over the mile last time out, and with Ryan Moore in the saddle. Lightly raced with just the three starts, the first two winning ones over six furlongs at Chelmsford and then this trip at Newbury and if she is improving as fast as her last run suggests, she will take the beating here and should give favourite backers a winning start to the day.
2.25pm – An intriguing race for three-year-olds only now over the mile here at Goodwood and where John Gosden add cheekpieces to dual winner Turgenev after a Listed class fourth last time out at Newmarket. I can’t personally see why he is forecast to go off favourite (other than the Gosden/Dettori factor, of course), and I would be more interested in Turjomaan who looks overpriced at 12/1. Effectively unbeaten after three starts (disqualified after his first win but only because he wasn’t qualified to run), he went on to score at Newcastle twice, the latest when making all the running to come home close to three lengths clear. Word is that the blinkers have seen plenty of improvement on the home gallops for Roger Varian and if that is more than just rumour (you can never be sure in this game as we all know), then he has a decent enough chance with Jim Crowley in the saddle. Art Du Val has done little wrong and may well prove to be a serious danger while I Could Do Better has a three out of three record and is not to be dismissed lightly.
3.00pm – When you see a twenty runner handicap and feel confident you have the winner, then you know that something must be wrong, and you have been warned that I could yet be the kiss of death for Mojito, the William Haggas trained five-year-old who landed the odds at Sandown after twenty-one months off the track and gets in here carrying just a three-pound penalty which leaves him three pounds well in as opposed to his handicap mark for future contests. The phrase “Group horse in a handicap” is wheeled out every year in contests such as these but the Requinto gelding did look as if he was up to more than a handicap and will carry my money here with the effervescent Frankie Dettori in the plate. Seniority won this last year for the same yard and owner The Queen off three pounds lower and could well place again today, with Beat Le Bon perhaps the best of the three-year-olds for Richard Hannon and a real player with a clear run.
3.35pm – An odds-on shot at Goodwood is a bit of a rarity but try as I might Battaash is impossible to oppose and ought to be up to winning the £176,000 first prize with the absolute minimum of fuss. His official rating puts him a huge twelve pounds clear of nearest rival El Astronaute after a win at Haydock in the Temple Stakes and a perfectly respectable second to the now retired to stud Blue Point in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot. Nothing of that calibre opposes here and it ought to be a stroll in the park for the cash with Big Brothers Pride my idea of the one for the forecast.
4.10pm – A highly competitive line up for this six furlong nursery includes not one but three horses looking for their hat-tricks as well as a further three who won last time out. The two at the top of the weights are both trainer by Mark Johnston and it is hard to pick between them with Ryan Moore on board Praxeology and P J McDonald on top of Eton College and I am very worried by them both, but I do wonder if Sir Arthur Dayne could shock them all. Owner trainer Mick Channon added first-time cheekpieces last time out at Lingfield in a lowly Class Six which he won by an easy nine lengths and the six pound penalty he is carrying here is eight pounds less than the handicapper has allotted him for future starts, suggesting this may well be his best chance at a valuable prize, though be warned, as I write he is also declared at Ffos Las on Thursday evening and may head there instead.
4.40pm – With close to £57,000 to the winner as well as the much sought after black type for this Group Three event I am willing to bet that behind the scenes, Goodwood management are bitterly disappointed with a five horse field for the Queen’s plate Glorious Stakes. All carry nine stone one so nothing to differentiate them at the weights though I suspect the slightly slower ground will see a better effort form Baghdad who may have found it too fast for him when only fifth at Newmarket in the Princess Of Wales’s Stakes last month, though really this ought to lie between just two horses. Desert Encounter was two places and two and a half lengths ahead of Baghdad that day and trainer David Simcock will expect him to confirm that form, though last year’s winner Mirage Dancer was in front of them both in second at headquarters and looks the one to beat. My one concern is the possible lack of pace and a sprint to the line but the from book points to his chances and I can’t find a sensible reason to bet against him I’m afraid.
5.15pm– Another wallet and purse emptying handicap to end the card but one that has plenty of top stables represented with their three-year-olds such as John Gosden, William Haggas, Richard Hannon, and Sir Michael Stoute who has won two of the last eight runnings of this race. Deal A Dollar represents the Stoute yard in 2019 after finishing second on all three starts but the son of Frankel out of Rockfel Stakes winner Cape Dollar sports a first-time tongue-tie and is bred in the purple, suggesting there may well be more to come. He did come under serious consideration here, but I was so taken with the recent win of top-weight Harrovian that I cannot discount him here. John Gosden’s horses remain in great form while the colt romped home to take his maiden last time out after making all for a seven length success and if he can repeat those tactics on his handicap debut, we may see yet another winner here for Frankie Dettori who is still in the form of his life.
Sean’s Suggestions:
Jubiloso 1.50pm Goodwood Friday
Turjomaaneach-way2.25pm Goodwood Friday
Mojito 3.00pm Goodwood Friday
Battaash3.35pm Goodwood Friday
Sir Arthur Dayne each-way (if absent, Eton College each-way) 4.10pm Goodwood Friday
Mirage Dancer 4.40pm Goodwood Friday
Harrovian each-way5.15pm Goodwood Friday
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