Frankie Dettori hopes to ride his 3,000th winner in Britain at Glorious Goodwood this week but quality is more important than quantity at this meeting and he might well settle for a single success over the five days were it guaranteed to be aboard Galileo Gold in Wednesday’s Sussex Stakes.
The first of the meeting’s Group One events has turned into an effective head-to-head several times in recent seasons, and the latest “duel on the Downs” will pit Galileo Gold against The Gurkha, who was a length-and-a-half behind him in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.
It is 8-1 bar two in the latest ante-post betting, and while Galileo Gold benefited from an outstanding Dettori ride at Ascot, he was still a worthy winner. Galileo Gold has experience on the track and the early speed to get a good position and is the obvious bet in the race at around 2-1.
The Vintage Stakes was first run in 1975 and is very much the youngster among the meeting’s Pattern races for two-year-olds, but is fast becoming the most significant, with future Group One winners including Galileo Gold, Highland Reel and Olympic Glory on the roll in the last four years. Boynton will need to defy a penalty to join them on Tuesday, but looked like a colt with plenty of improvement to come in the Superlative Stakes at Newmarket last time.
Lumiere would stand every chance against the colts if she runs in the Lennox Stakes the same afternoon, though a Group One in France a few days later remains an alternative target. Platitude, in the Gordon Stakes, and previous course winner Yalta, in the Molecomb, are two more that catch the eye on Wednesday, while Big Orange should follow up last year’s win in Thursday’s Goodwood Cup.
Cotai Glory, last year’s Molecomb winner, appears as an excellent bet back at the minimum trip in Friday’s King George V Stakes, while Robert Cowell’s Toofi did well to finish eighth in the Wokingham and has an excellent chance at around 10-1 in Saturday’s Stewards’ Cup.
