EXPERT RACING TIPS: GLORIOUS GOODWOOD
Best Bets
Rory Flanagan
BACK: 9. Big Evs (WIN) for 4 units (Rated at $2.75)
Big Evs as a 3yo met Asfoora at level weights in the King’s Stand and did most of the hard yakka to drag the field along despite being drawn the wrong side. He was still there at the finish having been something of a yardstick for Asfoora to run down at the uphill final furlong.
Big Evs now gets 2kg advantage and a downhill track to boost his chances after making all here last season which makes him a hugely backable prospect.
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GLORIOUS GOODWOOD TIPS AND PREVIEW
TRACK: Good To Firm
Cutaway was removed yesterday so now it’s almost impossible to try and slip up the fence in the straight as a few jockeys found out. Low draws on backmarkers and high draws on pace horses are brutal.
2. Al Aasy
1. Aimeric
3. Lion’s Pride
4. Phantom Flight
Betting Strategy
BACK: 2. Al Aasy (WIN) for 3 units (Rated at $3.00)
I feel like Al Aasy should be a lot shorter and he came back this prep with a solid 2nd at Newbury. Back up to 2400m where he’s done most of his best work and he can bounce back with a win.
Phantom Flight beat him first up but this is a different race with different track dimensions and an extra 400m.
10. Align The Stars
14. Dancing In Paris
2. Fairbanks
7. Ayyab
Betting Strategy
BACK: 10. Align The Stars (WIN) for 3 units (Rated at $3.00)
Could be a big half an hour for the family with full brother Al Aasy running in the previous race. Keen on both brothers. Pulled from the G3 the other day and saved for this where he is likely to start a heavy favourite if he runs. He does prefer some cut in the ground which he may get and they likely won’t run him if he doesn’t so I’m backing him early in the expectation that he’s either going to be scratched or shorten drastically with some juice. There’s a 5.5kg advantage over Fairbanks and over 2800m that could prove substantial as he’s a grinding type who relishes a battle.
BACK: 14. Dancing In Paris (WIN) for 1 unit (Rated at $6.00)
Dancing In Paris looked strong at 2800m at Ascot winning well from Tactician. He then stepped up to 3300m and just peaked at the 300 before getting a late second wind in the final 100. Back down in trip at a track he’s run well at before will suit and brings a formline that was well supported in the stayers’ race yesterday.
BACK: 7. Ayyab (WIN) for 1 unit (Rated at $8.00)
Scorched home here two back and has been finding the line consistently (rarely ever beaten more than half a length). Held up in traffic at Pontefract at Listed level which cost him key momentum and the main players pinched lengths on him when he was about to motor. If he can build the revs here, he’ll be powering late on over the top. Marquand booked is a key jockey upgrade.
4. Free Wind
1. Caius Chorister
12. Oxford Comma
8. Sumo Sam
Betting Strategy
BACK: 4. Free Wind (WIN) for 5 units (Rated at $2.50)
Free Wind was 8L behind the leader with 200m to go in this last year but was moving so well that she traded long odds-on. The mud got her that day and she just stopped like she’d run into a brick wall. We won’t see ground like that this year bar divine intervention and I’m forgiving her with full trust she bounces back. Bluestocking put 6L on her first-up but that was 2000m and this is a different ball game at 2800m (Bluestocking has spruced that form with a 2nd in the King George at Ascot)
Very confident she wins here and there’s a price to attack.
BACK: 8. Sumo Sam (WIN) for 1 unit (Rated at $9.00)
Sumo Sam ran away with the lead in this last year and I’m trading in plan with the expectation the tactics are repeated. $26 is a nice enough price to set stall on, then lay off at much shorter prices in single digits when she trades shorter if Marquand attempts to break the sound barrier at halfway.
LAY: 8. Sumo Sam (WIN) for 2 units (Rated at $4.00)
Set KEEP IN PLAY and lay Sumo Sam. Liabilities of 2u at $4, $2, $1.50, $1.20. 8u liability total.
6. Seven Questions
23. Dream Composer
2. Dark Trooper
3. Fivethousandtoone
Betting Strategy
Not betting unless rain arrives substantially to downgrade track for Seven Questions who is a mudlark and bender missed the top three from 6 wet track runs 211331 and steps down from the G1 King’s Stand.
8. Qirat
6. Mission To Moon
2. Ballymount Boy
10. Arctic Thunder
Betting Strategy
Waiting on weather and race is wide open.
1. Angelo Buonarotti
6. Consolidation
10. Sir Peter Fossick
11. Spell master
Betting Strategy
BACK: 1. Angelo Buonarotti (WIN) for 4 units (Rated at $2.00)
Angelo Buonarotti was a physical standout at Royal Ascot and was in the Coventry a long way especially considering it was his debut and he copped pretty hefty interference. He’s been touted as one of the star 2yos for connections and this is a substantial drop off from a 22-horse G2 for the son of Justify.
9. Native Warrior
11. Magic Memories
7. Dutch Decoy
4. Rowayeh
Betting Strategy
BACK: 9. Native Warrior (WIN) for 4 units (Rated at $2.40)
Native Warrior ran a cracker in the Britannia when 3rd of 29 but 1st of the 10 on the stand’s side. He’s got bags of upside and hasn’t yet hit his true mark. If Doyle is able to extricate away from the rail and avoid a repeat of last night’s stinker on Wafei then Native Warrior selects himself. The rain is no issue and if it doesn’t come, he handled Ascot fine on good to firm.
GOODWOOD RACING TIPS
Racing was first established at Goodwood Racecourse by the third Duke of Richmond back in 1802. Today, Goodwood holds 19 meetings per year, headlined by Glorious Goodwood in late July. The Goodwood Festival, commonly known as ‘Glorious Goodwood’, features five days of first-class racing at Goodwood Racecourse, near Chichester (UK). The rolling West Sussex countryside provides a scenic backdrop to one of England’s, if not the world’s, most picturesque racetracks. The Group 1 Goodwood Cup, won for four years in a row (2017-2020) by superstar Stradivarius, is the highlight of the opening day. The history of the race is intertwined with the Melbourne Cup, with several winners competing in Australia’s greatest race, including Big Orange (who ran 10th in the 2016 Melbourne Cup), Brown Panther (eighth in the 2013 Melbourne Cup), Cavalryman (12th in the 2012 Melbourne Cup) and Yeats (seventh in the 2003 Melbourne Cup). For expert analysis of the time-honoured Goodwood Cup and all Goodwood tips, the Betfair Hub has you covered.
The Goodwood Cup kicks off the Group 1 action on day one, before the Sussex Stakes headlines day two. Known locally as the ‘Duel On The Downs’, the race has been won by several champions including Frankel, arguably the greatest racehorse of his generation. The mile contest was claimed two years running by Frankel (2011-2012), who retired unbeaten after a 14-start career. The Nassau Stakes for fillies and mares is the feature on day three of Glorious Goodwood, which is designated Ladies’ Day. The Group 2 King George Stakes, won four years running (2017-2020) by Charlie Hills’ sprinting superstar Battaash, is the marquee contest on day four; before the Stewards’ Cup – a cavalry charge down the Goodwood straight – brings the curtain down on the festival. For all your Glorious Goodwood tips, look no further than the Betfair Hub.
Goodwood is an unusual racecourse, with horses competing in races on the ‘Stewards’ Cup Course’ (straight six) running uphill for the first furlong, and mostly downhill thereafter. There’s a tight right-handed loop at the far end of the straight, featuring starting points for various longer distance races. These include the 1 mile 2 furlongs (2000m) ‘Craven Course’, the 1m 4f (2400m) ‘Gratwicke Course’ and the 1m 6f (2800m) ‘Bentinck Course’. The start for the 2m 5f (4000m) ‘Cup Course’ is positioned relatively close to the winning post, with the field travelling outwards on the straight, around the loop and back. Throughout the loop there are severe undulations and sharp turns, making betting a tricky proposition. Betfair’s international experts do the hard work so that you don’t have to, delivering their Goodwood racing tips for each feature meeting.
