2.25pm Goodwood - Group 3 Bonhams Thoroughbred Stakes (1m)
This three-year-old contest includes some smart performers to kickstart Day Four of Glorious Goodwood. Al Musmak was a smart two-year-old, coming runner-up in the Royal Lodge Stakes behind Ghostwriter, and although things did not start too well for him early on in the season, he did have some excuses. He put it all together last time out however when landing a Listed contest at Newmarket in pretty good style, ahead of Lead Artist, who was the 6/4 market leader.
He could be the one they all have to beat, but there is a jockey booking that really catches the eye for me in this and that is Oisin Murphy onboard Dancing Gemini for Roger Teal.
This is the first time Oisin rides Roger's smart son of Camelot, and given how well he is riding this season, that is a real plus heading into this contest. Murphy is currently well clear in the flat jockey championship with 89 winners for the season already, some 31 winners ahead of William Buick in 2nd place.
Roger Teal has always held this horse in very high regard, and it is clear to see why as he was a smart Listed winning two-year-old, when landing the Flying Scotsman Stakes at Doncaster in very good fashion last season, before going on to come fifth in the Futurity, where the ground was probably the main issue for him not running as well.
He has been highly tried this season, coming runner-up in the French 2000 Guineas on his first start of the season, before going on to then come sixth in the Epsom Derby, probably not quite handling the trip as well as Roger and connections might have hoped.
He then stepped down to 1m2f next time out in the Coral-Eclipse and did struggle to land a blow, finishing last of six runners.
Connections have set their sights a little lower with him now, stepping down to this mile trip once again and in Group 3 company, that might be enough to see him back on winning terms here. I think he is just better than these over this trip, and if he can reproduce that effort from the Flying Scotsman Stakes, he will be the one they all have to beat here on Friday.
- Selection - Dancing Gemini (9/2 Win)
3.00pm Goodwood - Coral Golden Mile (1m)
This contest looks very competitive, as we have the full field of 20 currently going to post at this stage, which does make for a very nice betting heat for punters who love this sort of contest. I for one do like these sorts of races, but rarely do I pick the winner out of them, so hopefully I can buck that trend this year and pick a lovely-priced winner of the race.
The one I am siding with is Classic for Richard Hannon and Pat Dobbs, who does seemingly have a pretty plum draw in stall 3. The previous 10 winners of this race were drawn in 18, 2, 5, 2, 3, 3, 3, 1, 5, and 13, so it is clear to see that the lower stalls do seem to attract the winners, especially stall 3. Classic is a smart performer on his day, which includes a winner of a class 3 contest at Sandown last season off the mark of 89, as well as a very nice 2nd-placed effort in a class 3 Newbury handicap off the mark of 91, which then earned him a career-high rating of 94.
He has been somewhat hit and miss so far this season, coming ninth on seasonal debut, when he obviously needed the run to get his head back in the game, before running a very decent 2nd behind Two Tempting at Sandown. He was really short of room two furlongs from home before having to switch positions, but just could not get up in time.
I would very much draw a line through his last effort, but I can only assume it was the soft ground that caused him to run like that. He looks to be the sort that very much thrives with top-of-the-ground conditions, so hopefully no rain comes our way at Goodwood for Thursday and Friday.
The way he runs does suit these bigger fields, and coming out of the plum stall 3, he could be the one they all have to catch on ground that very much is in his favour on Friday. I think there is plenty of ability in there, he just needs it to all go his way and fall together in place perfectly.
Another one I am siding with at a decent each-way price at this stage is Darkness for David O'Meara, who is very much a trainer to be on the side of in these very competitive handicaps. This horse was fourth in the race last season off a 3lb higher mark, and he was a very nice winner of a Class 3 contest at Newmarket, before running very well to claim 5th spot at Newmarket last time in the Bunbury Cup.
He runs off the same mark here as last time, and at a slightly easier track with no undulations (he looked a little unbalanced when running last time, Newmarket can sometimes do that to horses) he could run very well at a decent price. He would be another each-way shout of mine for this hugely competitive contest.
- Selection - Classic (10/1 Each Way) & Darkness (16/1 Each Way)
3.35pm Goodwood - Group 2 King George Qatar Stakes (5f)
The feature contest of the day involves the four of the first five finishes of this years King Charles III Stakes (formally the King's Stand Stakes) including the winning Australian mare, Asfoora, who continues her tour of the UK, looking to land another top sprinting prize before going on to the Nunthorpe in a few weeks time.
She will look to land this prize on the way there with Oisin Murphy once again booked to ride. She was an impressive winner of the King Charles III Stakes at the royal meeting last time and if in the same form as then, she will be very hard to peg back once again here.
Every Aussie sprinter should be taken seriously when coming up on very good ground, but I just can't get Big Evs out of mind, at the the same track where he won the Molecomb Stakes last season in very game fashion (his stablemate Big Mojo also won the Molecomb this year for the same connections).
He was foot perfect last season as a two-year-old sprinter, and there were obvious question marks on whether he could keep it up this season, but the answer appears to be yes. He was a very commanding winner of the Listed Westow Stakes at York for his first run of the year, which was his pipe-opener for the King Charles III Stakes, and given that Ascot does not suit his running style at all, he still plugged on very well to claim 3rd spot last time out.
He loves to burst out the stalls and make all, using that very quick early speed he has during the opening stages of the race, which can take a few horses out of their comfort zone, which means he gets the run of the race. One thing that is a little unusual with the Mick Appleby horse is he can actually finish his race off well, which is strange for a sprinter who has a whole lot of early speed during the race.
Back at Goodwood’s sharper sprinting track, he can put his running style to good use and just use the early speed to clear away from the rest of the field.
Connections will be in very good spirits heading into this given the fact they had a very nice two-year-old winner on Wednesday, and with Big Evs the best sprinter in Friday's feature, he is the one they all have to catch.
I really hope he can get back to winning ways here, before taking on the Nunthorpe, although he will have a real test on his hands with the Australian mare.
One thing that finally sits in his favour here is the fact he gets 5lb off the mare rather than 3lb like the Ascot race. That accompanied with the sharper track could be the mitigating factor as to why Big Evs will reverse the form from last time.
- Selection - Big Evs (3/1 Win)
All previews and tips provided by @ Jake Russell