July 29 – Goodwood – Westridge – 81
The Glorious Goodwood meeting kicked off with its traditional 1m2f handicap and a strong race on paper beforehand produced a speed figure that suggests the form should work out to be a good one of its kind moving forward. The winner had been called one or two rude names in the past, probably due to an ungainly head carriage, but there was nothing wrong with his application here as he bounded clear of his rivals late on after travelling sweetly throughout a well run affair. York looks an obvious target for John & Thady Gosden’s inmate next and so does the Cambrideshire further afield. Of those beaten, Shadow Dance ran a promising trial for the Ebor over a trip short of his best and Roger Varian’s previous York scorer has to go onto the list of possibilities for the big 1m6f handicap next month.
July 30 -Sandown – Oxagon – 78
Usually an informative maiden and this year’s renewal should turn out to be no different with a winner at least easily capable of taking his game to even greater heights. Breaking much more alertly that he did on debut at Newmarket, John & Thady Gosden’s colt set strong fractions from the start and when asked to lengthen from the two pole, he readily came clear to the tune of eight lengths. Clearly building on his initial display at HQ, the son of Frankel posted the sort of speed figure to suggest he is one of the most promising juvenile colts we have seen so far this season and the rest of his career deserves monitoring closely. Looking back, he is now the third winner from the maiden won by Distant Storm at the July festival – Constitution River and Hengroin the other two – so it’s clear we are dealing with a race worth noting for the future.
July 31 – Goodwood – Merchant – 83
Probably not the greatest version of the Gordon Stakes but the front two served up a rousing finish and they pulled seven lengths clear of the rest. The winner had to dig deep into his resources to overhaul the plucky Wimbledon Hawkeye and in doing so he not only maintained his upwardly mobile profile, but he posted a career high speed figure. Talk of the St Leger afterwards suggested connections might not go down that route, which would be a shame but they see him as a long term project and their policy is probably the wisest one if he were to be subject to a hard race on Town Moor. As for the runner-up, he is punching well above his weight this season considering he hasn’t grown much and knowing the stable, it would come as no surprise if he were to become their leading juvenile hurdle prospect throughout the winter.
July 31 – Goodwood – Coppull – 78
A race run in a biblical downpour but nevertheless, a speed figure that suggests it might be one of the better Richmond Stakes in recent times. Clive Cox’s inmate had run well in the Coventry previously and that form has worked out as well as the speed figure suggested it might and he duly continued the theme over this sharper track. He may have benefitted from racing hard towards the favoured nearside fence but he always looked in control and it would be dangerous to undermine his performance when assessing his credentials for similar races further down the line. Havana Hurricane once again proved he is a colt of some quality, coming from some way back after a slow start to finish on the heels of the leader. The backend splits suggested he did an awful lot of running to make up the deficit lost and he has plenty of options going forward.
July 31 – Goodwood – Best Secret – 79
Not the fastest time figure of the week but we would like to highlight the performance of the winner – arguably one of the best of the entire Goodwood meeting. As we learnt during the week, as in many previous years, it is extremely difficult to come from the back of the field at the Sussex venue, so the fact the son of Persian King pulled off the unlikely marks him down as a horse of some potential. Slow away as he was at Royal Ascot, he was still stone last with three furlongs to run but a closing surge of 34.4 (fastest on the card) took him past the entire field in a short space of time and he ended up winning going away at the line. Only those with a supreme amount of class and ability to do what he did and we have no hesitation to say he will be dining at the highest table sooner rather than later – even more so if he can learn to break on terms. Top class prospect.
August 1 – Goodwood – JM Jungle – 84
In-keeping with the sprinting division throughout the season, another shock result, but similar to American Affair, a result borne out of a horse who had been running some big numbers to top-quality handicaps. Clearly there isn’t much between the two categories nowadays and, if anything, those running flat out in five and six furlongs races in big fields have a better background than the sexier pattern performers and are able to make the transition into better company a lot smoother than in the past. Reading the post race comments, John & Sean Quinn’s inmate seems highly likely to head to York for the Nunthorpe and at a track where he has a fair record in recent times, he should once again be capable of punching above his weight.