Horse racing tips: Best bets for Glorious Goodwood day 1
Our expert reveals his best tips for four races on the first day of the Goodwood Festival.
13:45
Every handicap race at Goodwood with a field as large as this one will require plenty of luck in running, as the horses tend to bunch up on the far side rail and those tucked in can struggle for room until very late on.
In these big handicap races, however, they do go quick early on, which can set the race up for horses to come from the back.
With Betway paying five places, I think SUCELLUS is worth looking at from an each-way point of view as I think the penny is starting to drop with him.
This horse began his career with John Gosden and his form figures read 12231 in his first five starts, which is as good a start as any other horse in this race.
He was purchased and moved to Roger Fell’s yard and has been an eye-catcher in each of his four starts this season. He has slipped 3lb down in the handicap, too.
He looks to be suited by 1m2f – as indicated by his latest run at York over a mile – and he was third here as a juvenile, so there aren’t any worries about him not acting on the track.
14:15
The Vintage Stakes has thrown up plenty of good horses over the years including Pinatubo last year, who went on to be crowned Champion Two-Year-Old.
I don’t think we’ve seen the best two-year old-from Ballydoyle yet this season, but of those who have run, I think Battleground is the best.
He caught the eye on his debut and then bolted up in the Chesham Stakes on just his second career start. He is going to take all of the beating, but at the prices I think YOUTH SPIRIT represents good each-way value.
He is trained by Betway ambassador Andrew Balding, who has a good line of form to use with two-year-olds this season. He also trains Tactical, who has been successful in two of his three starts.
Youth Spirit ran very well on his debut at Haydock but showed real improvement from his first run to his second when he thrashed a competitive field at Newmarket at the July meeting in what is always a very strong maiden race.
That the yard have sent him for this group assignment following that maiden win makes you think he’s shown more than enough at home to be competitive in this race.
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15:45
The Qatar Handicap is a sprint race over the downhill 5f where they will go hell-for-leather from the start, especially with plenty of pace angles in the race.
Those include Ornate, A Momentofmadness and Caspian Prince, who will all look to go from the front to make it a real test.
RECON MISSION is still relatively lightly raced and is an improving young horse, whereas a lot of his rivals are exposed and must wait until they hit their optimum handicap mark in to win a race of this ability.
Tony Carroll is excellent at getting his horses ready for specific targets and this would no doubt have been on the agenda for the son of Kodiac, who is all speed and is certainly going to find the drop back to five furlongs a help.
He’s run over 6f in three starts this term and has run well in each of them, but has somehow seen his mark slip from 102 to 97.
Carroll has an excellent record when teaming up with jockey Tom Marquand, who has been booked for this ride too, so they have excellent each way claims in this open race.
16:20
Maiden races are for horses who are yet to win a race, and those at the Grade 1 tracks such as Goodwood are always hotly contested.
They are also worth watching again and again, as you’ll find plenty who run well without winning.
IMPERIAL DAWN made his debut in a novice race at Newbury a few weeks ago, and although he went off a 25/1 chance on the day, he shaped with plenty of promise in a race that looked very competitive on paper.
There was early support for him in the market, which is always a good indication in two-year-old races.
He travelled well and looked as though he was going to be there at the thick of it before being just run out of it late on, but it was a good performance.
It’s interesting to note that Oisin Murphy has been booked for the ride, as you’d think the Champion Jockey would be able to ride most of the horses in the race and, at a big price, he could run into a place with that experience under his belt.
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