The horse racing broadcaster provides his five tips for Day 2 of the Goodwood Festival, including his pick for the day's feature race, the Sussex Stakes.
Day 2 of the Qatar Goodwood Festival and there is no doubt about the most eagerly awaited race of the week, with a stonking renewal of the Sussex Stakes which features another clash between star three-year-olds BOW ECHO 6/5 (16:10 Goodwood) and Gstaad, with the older Opera Ballo thrown into the mix as well. Irrespective of what you believe regarding intent, there is no doubt that the way Puerto Rico was ridden at Ascot in the St. James’s Palace allowed stable companion Gstaad back into a race in which he was on the back foot and inconvenienced Bow Echo. Physically Gstaad has always been the more impressive of the pair, giving the potential for him at some stage to progress past Bow Echo, but based on Ascot it may not be yet and may be more at 10f than a mile. The presence of Puerto Rico in the field, again under Christophe Soumillon, adds a little extra frisson but if ridden forward it may be Opera Ballo who is more inconvenienced this time around. The Godolphin hope deserves plenty of credit for his Queen Anne run when he went plenty fast enough in the early stages, but he could well get lit up again on the descent if Puerto Rico does enough to ignite Opera Ballo’s blue touch paper. It seems therefore as if the most likely scenario is for Bow Echo to be able to use his turn of foot to better effect here than at Ascot, where events forced him to play his hand earlier and wider than ideal.
Wathnan Racing, given their Qatar connection have these five days very high on their agenda and in the first two races on Wednesday they have a pair of horses on the comeback trail from Royal Ascot who can leave that form behind.
First up is TIERRA DEL TORO 7/1 (13:50 Goodwood) who finished ninth in what looks a very strong renewal of the King George V Handicap, which has already thrown up four next time out winners from the nine runners that have appeared since. Tierra Derl Toro is not alone in representing the form, Cannes and Blue Hercules are also in the field, but he seemed to have the most plausible excuses, being too keen on the early descent and not lasting home. His previous form at Newbury has also worked out well and he appeals more at the prices than Cannes who was taken back from his wide gate at Ascot and was never involved. Cannes was favourite that day and his yard continue in great heart, but he has been well found in the market and the differential between himself and Tierra Del Toro looks too great. Blue Hercules can’t be completely written off either having followed his Ascot run with a second back at the track and could get a soft time of things up front here, and as well as supporting Tierra Del Toro perming the three from the King George V in forecasts also looks a decent angle to exploit the strength of that race.
WILD BLOSSOM 6/4 (14:25 Goodwood) can also get her career back on track in the two-year-old Conditions race. As has been mentioned before in this blog, Karl Burke likes using Carlisle for his better juveniles and she made short work of three rivals in May. Wild Blossom did plenty in the Queen Mary, possibly paying for trying to keep up with the Group on the favoured stands side (Crownbreaker who had been routed at Carlisle finished ahead of her on the other side) and here she can more easily dominate this smaller field. A £300k Breeze Up purchase, she really takes the eye physically and can make her class tell.
Not every race can massively appeal as a betting contest, and the Oak Tree Stakes is one of them. Flora of Bermuda (can start slowly) and Sayidah Dariyan both have question marks at the trip whilst ZANTHOS 5/1 (15:00 Goodwood), who is definitely the pick on his juvenile form, has not reproduced it so far this season. Preference would be for the Crisford three-year-old, with the yard having a great summer (7/35 in July A/E 1.29) coupled with the fact that a return to 7f could also be in his favour. A low stakes race though.
Finally, there will be the annual opportunity to compare the winning time of the 14:25 with the Molecomb just over an hour later. It is quite possible that Wild Blossom could clock a faster time as this does not look a vintage renewal, so it may pay to keep it simple with unbeaten ADONIUS 9/2 (15:35 Goodwood). Bypassing Royal Ascot may prove to be a smart move as he has looked all about speed and so this track will suit far better. He proved himself to be more than just an early juvenile with his win under a penalty in the Lily Agnes and is preferred to a few like Pershaada and the aforementioned Crownbreaker who took in the Royal meeting. Given the previous Wathnan comments, Ruler’s Pride could be the main threat.
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