The horse racing broadcaster runs through the card on the third day at the Qatar Goodwood Festival and picks out four selections.
It will be worth keeping an eye on the rain radar at Goodwood ahead of Thursday’s racing as the potential for hit-and-miss thundery showers is making ground predictions and any watering plans tricky.
One who will be hoping at least the odd shower hits is trainer Peter Chapple-Hyam, whose BLAKE
15/2
(13:50 Goodwood) looks the most interesting runner in the opener. While pace held up well on the opening day, this race looks to have the potential of being overly strongly run and could well be set up for a closer. Blake’s win at Sandown has worked out well with two next time out winners coming from the race, and he has a progressive profile. Stall 8 looks good for being able to keep all options open, and a rise of 9lb for that Esher success may still be workable, especially if he is ridden a little more patiently.
Aomori City’s win on Tuesday gives a strong pointer to the chances of BILLBOARD STAR
11/2
(14:25 Goodwood) in the Group 2 Markel Richmond Stakes. Billboard Star was one place ahead of the Godolphin horse at Newmarket in the July Stakes, and he also has experience of the track, having made his debut here in early June when third to Principality. That race is another to have proved strong, with Billboard Star one of three horses to win next time out, and he can get a good lead in off The Strikin Viking drawn two places inside him.
The Epsom Derby form has worked out better than I expected and is represented in the Group 3 Gordon Stakes by both Bellum Justum and Sayadaty Sadaty. The former appeals more than the latter, who was subsequently sold to connections who will be taking the horse down under for a campaign in Australia, but the form lines going into Epsom still make me uneasy. Clearly Jan Breughel is a big player, but he is priced on potential, of which he has plenty, rather than actual achievement. It may be worth a throw at the stumps with the outsider of the field ALIGN THE STARS
14/1
(15:00 Goodwood) who has proven stamina and is likely to try and exploit this from the front. This could set it up for the O’Brien horse, but the selection’s greater experience, good attitude under pressure, and most importantly big price means he gets the vote to turn over the front of the market.
The last Group 1 of the week at Goodwood is the Qatar Nassau Stakes where the decision to supplement EMILY UPJOHN
15/8
(15:35 Goodwood) looks likely to pay off. She got to the front plenty early enough last time in Ireland when caught close home by subsequent King George 2nd Bluestocking, and her overall body of work looks of enough quality to hold the 3yos at bay. 1000 Guineas winner Elmalka was not as well-suited by the shorter run-in on the round course at Ascot, and the longer straight and trip means she may bounce back to something like her Newmarket form, whilst Opera Singer could get a soft time on the lead, but Emily Upjohn traveled into the race so well in Ireland that she is hard to oppose.
