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Friday 31st July

2.10 Goodwood – Coutts Glorious Stakes
Mark Johnston has won this race three times in the last decade, the last of which was Crosspeace in 2006. Owned by a Favourites Racing syndicate, he had won the 1m2f heritage handicap on day one of the Festival prior to scoring under Royston Ffrench. Jump forward three years and he has DRUMFIRE in the line up, owned by a Kennet Valley syndicate and winner of that same 1m2f handicap. It was a very impressive performance under stand in Jimmy Fortune and with him booked for the ride again there is every reason to believe we will see a repeat performance. Luca Cumani has won this race twice in the last five years with the classy Alkaased and Purple Moon so the fact that he runs BASALTICO tomorrow suggests that Cumani feels he is up to the job. A six timer winner in his native Italy, he took a tour of Dubai this winter before joining the Newmarket ranks. His best effort came over two miles behind Veracity but from his Italian form a mile and a half seems more like his trip. Other than that I can’t tell you a lot other than watch the betting, as any support ahead of his British debut could prove significant. As you have already witnessed, I never seem to get it right with Stoute’s horses. If I tip them they run like dogs and when I oppose them they win pulling a cart! The best advise it do the opposite of what I say about WARRINGAH. For what it’s worth, I quite like this horse over a sound mile and a half as I was impressed with him when he won at Windsor last month. There is little doubt he is a relentless galloper and will probably set out to make this a stern test. Saeed Bin Suroor won this race in 2005 with the stamina laden Mamool and looks to have a strong hand this year with AGE OF REASON and CRIME SCENE. The former looks held on a line threw his run against CRIME SCEEN in Dubai in January, so it may be best to concentrate on the ex-Mark Johnston inmate. He finished stone last in this race last year on his first start since spending the winter in Dubai and after one more below par effort at Chester was sent back to Dubai. This year is slightly different though as he has already had a couple of outings in this country. His first over course and distance in June was too bad to be true but he put that behind him with a sterling effort at Newbury a fortnight ago. That came over 10f on softish ground and I am not sure that conditions will suit tomorrow, unless the heavens open. HALICARNASSUS run well over course and distance here in June but he has been a bit out of sorts on his last few starts, so is not for me tomorrow. ILLUSTRIOUS BLUE was 3rd in that race before a modest effort in the Hardwicke, so he is another not for me. INDIAN DAYS caused a few cocked eyebrows when only a length behind Doctor Freemantle in the Princess Of Wales’s and there is no denying it was a commendable effort. But, there was plenty of scrimmaging in the race and I think that he was probably flattered especially as most of the market principals failed to run their race. Don’t be put off by the recent form of MUHANNAK as he looked a very progressive animal in 2008 culminating with a fine effort in the Group 1 Hong Kong Vase. He trip to Dubai didn’t go entirely to plan and he hasn’t been seen on a racecourse since, so we will have to take his fitness on trust although he did win first time out last season. UNLEASHED looked well held on what he has shown so far and this step into Group 3 company could be a step too far.

SHORTLIST

DRUMFIRE
BALSALTICO

2.45 Goodwood – Rolf Group Stewards’ Sprint Stakes
As I am writing this preview before racing on Thursday I am finding it very difficult to nail my colours to the mast for a number of reasons. Firstly, I am not decided over which side will prove the place to be especially as Goodwood has had some rain overnight and secondly because there is no market formed at the moment. That’s important because in the last decade we have seen four winning favourites and no other winner has been priced bigger than 10/1, so there would seem no point looking at a big priced outsider. Dandy Nicholls’ runners are probably a good starting point as he has won this race five times in the last decade, albeit three times with the prolific Flak Jacket. PARISIAN PYRAMID looks to be his number one on jockey bookings and if the stands side proves to be the best side he could prove well drawn in stall 4. He has looked fairly progressive this season, rarely being beaten by far and even though he is on a career high mark, I wouldn’t rule him out as his only success so far came over course and distance at this meeting last year. NORTHERN DARE saw a return to winning ways at Pontefract last time and doesn’t look to badly treated under a 3lbs penalty. Stall 19 should be a good draw if the far side holds the bias but my only concern would be that he is a better horse with some cut in the ground and I am not sure he will get it tomorrow. INDIAN TRAIL isn’t ideally drawn in stall 8 but I would say that he remains on a fair mark at the moment. VAN BOSSED has been well beaten on all of his recent starts but I shall be having a little bit each-way tomorrow. Although he was only 14th of 19 at Ascot on Sunday, he was only beaten 6L and off his current mark of 86, I am sure he has a race in him. BURNWYND BOY completes his line up and although he is seemingly out of form, he is drawn well in stall 20. Richard Fahey is also mob handed with four runners of which SUNRISE SAFARI and HARRISON GEORGE look the two eye catchers after they finished first and second at Pontefract on Sunday. There was only just over a length separating them and off a very similar marks tomorrow there doesn’t look to be much between them, although Ryan Moore looks an eye-catching booking for the latter. SPIRIT OF SHARJAH was an impressive juvenile but lost his way somewhat when somewhat when moved to Peter Chapple-Hyam. He has since moved back to Julie Feilden and got back to winning ways at over 7f at Epsom last Thursday. A 3lbs penalty doesn’t look too harsh and he may prove very well handicapped if returning to the very best of his form. LITTLE PETE runs in the last today and a big effort would make him interesting from stall 6 tomorrow. One that I like from a high draw is PHANTOM WHISPER who I think is on winnable mark at the moment. He last win came over course and distance off a 6lbs higher mark and ignoring his latest run at Chepstow where the ground was a quick as he wants it, he arrives here in decent form. The final horse to interest me is JACONET who was a prolific winner earlier in the season. I think there were excuses for her last few efforts and I am not convinced the handicapper has her measure yet if things fall right.

SHORTLIST

PHANTOM WHISPER
JACONET
SUNRISE SAFARI
PARISIAN GEORGE

3.25 Goodwood – Totesport Mile
There are some very strong trends surrounding the Totesport Mile, so we should be able to whittle the 22 runners down to a respectable short list. The first area to consider is the trend surrounding age. Four and five-year-olds have very similar records on a par for par basis so both age groups must be monitored closely. Fifteen Love may have been the first three-year-old winner for a decade last season but the Classic generation don’t have a bad place record in this race from a relatively small amount of runners, so they too must all stay in at this early stage. However, we can lose those aged six or above as apart from the 2005 winner Unshakable they have had a torrid time of it in the Totesport Mile. Therefore, COURT MASTERPIECE, BENANDONNER, JOSEPH HENRY, SPECTAIT, KAVACHI, WEBBOW, MUJOOD and MARAJAA must all take an early bath.

Although only six of the last ten winners had achieved a top three finish on their latest start the other four had all posted very creditable efforts in defeat. On that basis we can oppose those that ran below par last time so I have decided that honour befalls LOVELACE, LAA RAYB, DUNN’O, CRACKDOWN and HORATIO CARTER. Seven of the last ten winners had been rated between 95 and 103, so although it may seem harsh I am also going to oppose JACK JUNIOR, TARTAN GIGHA and DUBAI’S TOUCH.

Those swift actions have left us with six on the shortlist so let’s really narrow it down by considering the draw. All of the last nine winners had been drawn in stall 16 or higher and off the top of my head I can’t think of any other race in which there is such a draw bias. As much as I am reluctant to do it ACROSTIC misses out along with HUZZAH and DOCOFTHEBAY.

That leaves three on the shortlist, VITZNAU, CLOUDY START and EXTRATERRESTRIAL. Trainer wise there isn’t much in it and to be honest the other smaller trends don’t help either. All three have experience of big field handicaps and as they are all well drawn, should be towards the head of the betting once a market forms. Neither VITZNAU nor CLOUDY START has run in any of the key trials but EXTRATERRESTRIAL did, finishing a respectable 7th in the Coral Challenge earlier this month.

SHORTLIST

EXTRATERRESTRIAL
CLOUDY START
VITZNAU
(KAVACHI)

CONCLUSION

Having thought long and hard about it I am going to plump for EXTRATERRESTRIAL who meets most of the trends head on. The boxes surrounding age, rating, draw, betting and key races are all ticked and even further weight is added with Richard Fahey’s horses running so well at the moment. We will need a bit of divine intervention as he is better with some ease in the ground but I am still happy with my choice. After winning the Spring Cup at Newbury in April, he was slightly disappointing in the listed Hambleton Stakes when he never really got involved. However, I thought he ran a much better race last time in the Coral Challenge when he was 7th behind another of today’s rivals ACROSTIC whom I would have fancied had it not been for his stall 6 draw. He was conceding 5lbs to the Cumani horse that day but re-opposes here on 7lbs better terms and with him being drawn in the box seat, looks capable of reversing the form. If you decide to follow me, a rain dance over the next few hours would be more than appreciated.

Being a three-year-old, CLOUDY START is one of the more lightly raced animals on show here and as a result is still slightly unexposed. He took a while to get going this season with two modest efforts but they sharpened him up enough to run out an impressive winner at Epsom on Oaks Day. He took a while to get going, giving the impression that a step up in trip was needed and he confirmed that with another impressive effort at Kempton over a mile. He contended with the extra 5lbs with the minimum of fuss, so the handicapper took no chances and hit him with a 15lbs rise. Despite that, he ran well at Newmarket behind Spring Of Fame off his new mark. From a trends perspective he performs well (although I would be happier if he was racing off 105) but the key factor is his draw in stall 21.

VITZNAU might seem a strange selection given that he has been comprehensively beaten on his last two starts, but a dig into his form suggests that he is capable of making his presence felt tomorrow. He ran a very nice race to finish 6th in the race last year from a poor draw in stall 9, so clearly handles the trip and the track and even though he is 2lbs higher than last year, he has the box draw in stall 22. Ignoring his last two runs, he ran a nice race behind Mac Love at Epsom on Oaks Day and even though he is yet to win over a mile I think the downhill run at Goodwood makes it slightly easier for him to get the trip.

The final horse on the shortlist, KAVACHI, has a bit to prove being a six-year-old but other than that he sits nicely with the trends. I liked his attitude when he won at York in June and I don’t think he did a lot wrong when finishing 8th in the Royal Hunt Cup, one of the key guides to this race. He did miss the break, which meant he always had an uphill struggle but even though he then met trouble in running he stuck on well. He is another that will appreciate some further rain but from his stall 19 draw I just couldn’t overlook him.

4.00 Goodwood – Richmond Stakes
What a shame that Richard Hannon hasn’t declared Monsieur Chevalier, I was looking forward to seeing him run again! However, Hannon looks to have an equally strong hand in the shape of the impressive DICK TURPIN. On his debut at Windsor in June, he put his 14 rivals to the sword with a convincing 4 1/2L victory before improving at Salisbury to win a novice auction by a wide margin 6L. After making all at Windsor, he took a tow at Salisbury so is obviously a versatile horse and he would also appear to act on any ground. Hannon won this race last year with Prolific and on what I have seen so far I think he has a very strong chance of recording back to back wins. It is ten years since Bachir won this race for John Gosden but he looks to have a decent chance with the recent Yarmouth winner SHOWCASING. He was unlucky not to get off the mark at the first time of asking but his greenness in the early stages meant he could never quite get to the winner. However, he learnt from that, making all for a convincing 3 1/2L success at Yarmouth and he looks to the sort to get better with racing. Of the rest, BOULD MOVER ran well enough to finish 5th in the Molecomb on Tuesday but he will need to improve on his first attempt at 6f if he is to win this. BUZZWORD was a cosy winner at Windsor last time but worried me when hanging in the closing stages and Goodwood is not the place to go with a horse like that. GHOSTWING was an easy winner at Ayr in June but still looked inexperienced when getting detached early on in the July Stakes. However, he really picked up in the final two furlongs, simply flying home to take 5th place and as long as he is able to learn from that I think he will give supporters a run for their money. NOSEDIVE was further back in 8th at Newmarket so looks held at this level. LUCKY LIKE has make both of his starts so far in France, so I haven’t actually seen him race. He made his debut in a listed contest at Deauville so has obviously been showing a bit at home but on the form he has shown so far he will need to improve. MORAN GRA won a modest 6f Leopardstown maiden with relative ease before running a respectable race to chase home Canford Cliffs in the Coventry but ultimately I think he needs a step up in trip. RAKAAN finished one place ahead of him at Ascot staying on well in the closing stages after getting outpaced early on. Prior to that he had run well over course and distance and it is not totally out of the question that he will lose his maiden tag tomorrow. STARGAZING is one of the more experienced runners in the field but he is yet to race over 6f and may not be suited to the ground if there is any further rain.

SHORTLIST

DICK TURPIN
SHOWCASING

4.35 Goodwood – RSA Nursery Stakes
The trends don’t really help us here, so we will have to concentrate on the form. ROCK OF LOVE cost a colleague of mine the placepot at Newmarket on July Cup day, when he could only finish 4th in a nice looking Nursery. The winner let the form down with defeat in a listed contest at Ascot on Saturday but the 3rd horse home Sir Parky has won at Newbury since. I think he is capable of better than that and even though he is conceding weight to some potential improvers tomorrow, the fact that he is drawn well and that Mark Johnston has won this race twice in the last decade earns his place on the shortlist. The Middleham handler also runs MARSH WARBLER who looked impressive when winning at Redcar on his debut but never went a yard when trailing home last in the Coventry. He will have to put that run behind him to figure but with any Johnston juvenile you never know how much improvement they can find from one run to the next. Richard Hannon has also won this race twice in the last decade so the recent Doncaster winner AVON RIVER looks appealing. Well beaten in the Woodcote, he appreciated the step up to 7f last time, taking authority in a muddling four runner affair. This will be a whole different ball game and I think he has a bit to prove from stall 4. KING’S APPROACH fared slightly better in the Woodcote but was still a long way behind the winner before disappointing in a modest auction race at Salisbury. It is possible that he will improve with the step up in trip but personally I think he will struggle here. COLOURSOFTHEGLEN is a consistent animal, finishing in the first two on each of his four starts this season. He is already a 7f winner so will be suited to the trip and has a decent draw in stall 18. CONTRACT CATERER didn’t have any luck when narrowly beaten at Leicester on his first attempt over 7f but bounced back at Catterick last time with a convincing pillar to post victory. He has got a tasty draw in stall 19 and could prove difficult to peg back if allowed too easy a lead. GUNNER LINDLEY has steadily progressed with each run this season culminating with a well earned success at Haydock a fortnight ago. He looks to need ever yard of tomorrow’s trip so I wouldn’t rule out a bold effort from his stall 16 draw.

SHORTLIST

COLOURSOFTHEGLEN
CONTRACT CATERER
ROCK OF LOVE
GUNNER LINDLEY

5.10 Goodwood – Oak Tree Stakes
As three-year-olds have won seven of the last ten renewals the trends suggest that they are the age group to focus on. PENNY’S GIFT carries a 5lbs penalty thanks to her victory in the German 1000 Guineas, so whilst I thought she ran a respectable race in the Falmouth, I think she may just find one or two better treated here. GOLDEN STREAM looks the type to benefit from that 5lbs pull with some impressive form in her locker. Fifth in last year’s Fillies’ Mile, I think she failed to stay when falling away in the closing stages over 10f at Newmarket on her reappearance. It was no surprise to me when Stoute dropped her back in trip in the Sandringham and whilst she stuck on gamely to finish second to Moneycantbuymelove I still got the impression that it was just stretching her stamina too far. Therefore, I was very keen on her ahead of her win in a 7f listed contest at Warwick where she made all and never looked in trouble. That will have done her confidence no end of good and I would be surprised if she isn’t involved in the finish tomorrow. GREENISLAND and KING’S STARLET look well held on their Sandringham form whilst last season’s Lowther winner INFAMOUS ANGEL has disappointed me this term and she is starting to look tripless. PLEASE SING was another to contest the Sandringham but I thought she ran a cracker to finish third and if she is able to repeat that performance she will give supporters a fair run for their money. SELECT shouldn’t be able to reverse the Warwick form with the Stoute filly but I would give a squeak to the bottom horse SUMMER FETE if there was some ease in the ground. When it comes to the older horses, SAN SICHARIA should prove suited to the trip and ground but I think she is vulnerable under a penalty. COSMOPOLITAN won a maiden and a handicap in June but I think John Gosden aimed too high when running her in the Falmouth where she finished last. The drop back into handicap company seemed much more to her liking as she ran out a ready winner at Newbury last time and this does look the natural progression. LESSING got back to winning ways at Maisons-Laffitte last time but she is a filly that needs to get her toe in and will probably find it too quick for her tomorrow. RED DUNE finished 4th in this race last year but although she did improve slightly at Chester last time I still think she looks up against it. ROYAL CONFIDENCE beat her at Doncaster last year but she hasn’t really built on that this year.

SHORTLIST

GOLDEN STREAM
COSMOPOLITAN
PLEASE SING

5.45 Goodwood – Turf Club Stakes
STRICTLY immediately catches your eye when you look down the page but I am far from convinced by this filly. After a decent reappearance at Nottingham in April everything looked set for her first victory at Doncaster next time but although she won, she did make hard work of it. I was concerned by her performance behind LA ZAMORA at Newmarket next time as she hung in the closing stages and whilst the fast ground could be to blame it is also possible that she isn’t the most genuine of fillies. That view was backed up at Sandown last time when once again she hung in the closing stages so I am going to stick my neck on the line and oppose her tomorrow. LA ZAMORA already had her measure Newmarket and although she re-opposes on 4lbs worse terms I think she will confirm that superiority. MATTAMIA has been progressing nicely this season, winning three of his six starts. He is up another pound tomorrow but judged on his narrow defeat at Newmarket last time I am not sure than handicapper has his measure just yet. The final one to interest me is the recent Chester runner-up NOBLE STORM. A winner at Beverley in May, he ran respectably in a listed contest next time before just failing at Chester three weeks ago. I don’t think he has stopped improving yet and Ed McMahon knows what is required to win this race having done so in 2006.

SHORTLIST

LA ZAMORA
NOBLE STORM