1.30pm update, by Greg Wood
Ed Arkell, who took over from the long-serving Seamus Buckley as Goodwood’s clerk of the course at the start of the season, has issued a bulletin on the going ahead of his first Glorious Goodwood.
“We had been expecting a shower overnight, possibly 1mm or 2mm, but we got almost five,” Arkell said. “All the good-to-firm bits on the round course have gone and it is good, with the last three-and-a-half furlongs of the straight course being a bit easier.
“We are starting off on ideal ground conditions in view of the forecast temperatures, up to very high 20s and even 30s on Saturday. If we have to water again, it will be at the very end of the week and we hope that we would not have to.”
Today’s best bets, by Chris Cook
I don’t often find myself predicting rough days for John Gosden but this could be one. Well, it’s already one, as his star juvenile Calyx has been ruled out of the rest of this season with an unspecified setback.
You’ll remember Calyx as the flashy son of Kingman who is unbeaten in his two runs so far, most recently burning up the stands’ rail to win the Coventry at Royal Ascot. His owners say a full recovery is expected and he should hopefully be fit to compete in the 2,000 Guineas in May, for which he is clear favourite at 6-1.
Gosden goes to Goodwood for opening day of the Glorious meeting, hoping Stradivarius can cheer him up by landing the Goodwood Cup, which would mean he was just one more race away from winning a £1m bonus. Alas, I think that particular trail may end here.
Torcedor (3.35) was, after all, just a length behind Stradivarius in the Gold Cup last month. We expect that he’ll be closer to the pace than his main rival here and may even get a soft lead. Over a shorter trip and at this sharper track, he may have it in him to keep going strongly enough to deny the younger horse.
There’s been another 4.8mm of rain overnight at Goodwood, making the going good to soft in places and it would be no surprise if it even rode a bit softer than that. That helps Torcedor, I think, in that it takes the edge off Stradivarius’s greater pace. The 4-1 about Torcedor seems big, given how little there was between them last time.
That rain is also good news for Cosmic Law (2.25), as conditions today will be a lot closer to those in which he won the Woodcote than when he was disappointing in the Coventry. Richard Fahey’s horse looked a serious talent in the Epsom race and I’ll take 10-1 that he can show that again. There are horses at shorter prices that have achieved less. Yes, Confiding, I’m looking at you.
The Lennox Stakes has been a good race for three-year-olds but the only such runner this time is Tip Two Win and the rain has made things harder for Roger Teal’s game but titchy colt. Sir Dancealot (3.00) is the form pick and odds of 11-2 allow for the things that can go wrong around Goodwood in a 12-runner field.
Seven furlongs seems this one’s best distance, so it’s odd to me that he’s only been given one chance at it since being gelded over the winter, especially since he won that day. But he gets another go here and I think he’ll take David Elsworth to the winner’s enclosure.
Finally, I’m going to be picking an “unluckiest run of the day” each day at Goodwood this week, so feel free to tell me what it should be in the comments below. Needless to say, it will tend to be my nap, unless the thing has actually managed to win.
Goodwood 1.50 Silver Line 2.25 Cosmic Law (nb) 3.00 Sir Dancealot (nap) 3.35 Torcedor 4.10 Al Mureib 4.45 Pettochside 5.15 Dance On The Day
Yarmouth 1.40 Emily Goldfinch 2.15 Lonely Boy 2.50 Sexy Secret 3.25 Final Rock 4.00 Mujassam 4.30 Lily Ash 5.05 Fang
Beverley 2.05 Ramesses 2.40 Dream Free 3.15 Northernpowerhouse 3.50 Scuzeme 4.20 Three Saints Bay 4.55 Kylie Rules 5.30 Palindrome 6.00 Hilborough
Worcester 5.35 Samson 6.05 Brave Eagle 6.40 I’dliketheoption 7.15 Black Jack Rover 7.50 Katebird 8.20 Ginger Fizz 8.50 Cash In Mind
Perth 5.45 Youghal By The Sea 6.15 Graineyhill 6.50 Chanceanotherfive 7.25 Swingbridge 8.00 Sense Of Urgency 8.30 Crack Of Thunder 9.00 The Jam Man
Tips by Chris Cook
