Glorious Goodwood is upon us a beautifull course situated in Southern England with the Cathedral town of Chichester being the back drop.
This excellent 5 days of racing has lost a liitle of its staus in recent years. With the world becoming smaller and the purses becoming bigger elsewhere especially abroad, it has lost its attraction for some of the bigger horses in training. Horses are trained for the Arlington Million rather than the Sussex Stakes.
It still presents plenty of opportunities for the player hopefully we can hightlight some of those wagering opportunities and explain the European style of racing along the way.
Goodwood is 100% turf course with a very undulating mile plus track and a straight mile course which also accomodates the big sprint fields. Not uncommon to see over 20 horses competing in these so gate draw is critical for a mile and under.
Connections to watch Mark Johnstone has an unprecedented record here and will sometimes run a horse on the first day and last day.
John and Ed Dunlop father and son but two different barns have a great record just training down the road near Arundel Castle.
Some of the group races attract the high end handicappers so exciting races will prevail with wannabe class horses coming out of the handicapping ranks into stakes races.
So follow all the action with R2D get that glass of compulsory Pimms # 1 and enjoy this feast of good priced winners.
BEST BET ….. RACE 2 …..# 4 CIRCUMVENT.
Gordon Stakes 1m1/2 turf 3yo only Gr3.
A race which acts as a trial for the third leg of the UK triple crown The St. Leger over a mile 6f.
You will find horses that have competed in the English Irish and sometimes French Derby in this race.
Conduit won this 2 years ago then went onto win a Breeders cup title in Santa Anita.
The selection Circumvent is a tough horse always thought of as a graded stakes horse but came up short 2 races ago in the Dante at York. The winner Cape Blanco ran a second to Harbinger at the weekend in a Gr 1 race. Harbinger won this race last year. So the form lines are there. What I like is the run last time out at Newmarket the selection ran wire to wire carrying top wieght of 133 pounds giving wieght all around to his opponents and winning in gutsy fashion. Level wieghts today folks but a nice big price.
Artic Cosmos is trained by John Gosden well known in US circles having spent time at Santa Anita and winning Breeders titles at the same track. He will be battling it out at the end with the selection. Ran a fine race at Royal Ascot going down in the last few hundred yards in a Gr2 race over same distance.
NEXT BEST ….. RACE 4 ….. # 6 STONE OF FOLCA
Molecomb stakes 5f turf 2yo Gr 3.
John Best the selections conditioner has had this race earmarked for this guy since he was a yearling.
John is a shrewed trainer and often sends horses to compete in the US most recently Square Eddie to win the Keeneland Futurity 2 years ago. Could STONE OF FOLCA be another one following the same path.
He takes on favourite ZEBEDEE whom he beat at Royal Ascot last time out and who is part of the top juvenile operation in the world…. Richard Hannon and son.
Will be a classic race hope to see at least one of these guys in North America later in the year.
VALUE BET ….. RACE 7 …..# 1 MONTAFF. W/P/S
Handicap 1m6f turf 3yo plus Class 2.
Handicaps in Europe are roughly the equivelant to claiming races although the weight they carry is determined by a single person “The Handicapper” who in turn allocates weight by previous performances.
10.00 stones in imperial wieght 140 pounds is the maxium weight a horse can carry before progressing into stakes races. The jock may weigh only 121 pounds so the difference is made up in lead wieghts placed in a pouch in the saddle, so it pays to have a heavy jock in place instead of dead weight.
Mile six furlongs on undulating ground is a difficult distance the selection MONTAFF is dropping down from graded stakes level although top weight, class and a shorter distance should help him prevail.
The trainer Mick Channon has the distinction of being the only English soccer player to score an International goal for England against the USA at Shay Stadium of all places in the seventies.
JEDI should bounce back representing the country’s top connections Sir Michael Stoute and jock Ryan Moore. He was a beaten favourite over a course that was not to his liking should turn things around to figure in the bussiness end of the race.
Cheers
