Tuesday: English Oak

HKJC World Pool Lennox Stakes (Group 2)

Goodwood’s advance going is soft, with good to soft in places, but it is very likely to ride good or quicker on the opening day according to the forecast, and that’s what I’ll bank on.

There may be showers later in the week, but I hope we can avoid the downpours we’ve had in recent seasons, with the meeting abandoned before the last couple of races last year.

Kinross bids for a third win in the Lennox Stakes but he was a little below his best in the July Cup last time, even accounting for the trip, and he’s beginning to look vulnerable at the age of seven.

The race could come too soon for Poet Master after his Minstrel Stakes win, and best option in the field looks to be Ed Walker’s English Oak, a big improver on his last two starts, particularly last time, when routing his rivals in the Buckingham Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

This is a step up in class, but he ran to a high level in winning such a hot handicap by three facile lengths, and there is surely more to come from the son of Wootton Bassett.

Wednesday: Telemark

HKJC World Pool Handicap

Telemark was rather an expensive failure when I napped him at York recently, but that race became messy early, with a loose horse coming out of the stall on his inside and some early scrimmaging serving to both knock him back in the field and get him very lit up.

He ran no race as a result, but had looked one to follow with a stylish win at Thirsk prior to that. On that occasion he overcame a pace bias to win cosily despite giving plenty of weight away to most of his rivals.

He’s back to the trip he won over at Thirsk here and while bred to stay a mile and further, he shapes as if best kept to this trip for the present, at least until he settles more completely in his races.

Thursday: Laurel

Qatar Nassau Stakes (Group 1

Laurel was a filly I was dead against at Royal Ascot this year, arguing the Duke of Cambridge Stakes would come too soon for her. In the end, she lacked the edge of winner Running Lion, but put in an impressive burst to get into a challenging position in the penultimate furlong and is sure to build on that hugely promising return.

Laurel was entered in the Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket but has been given a little more time to recover from an arduous return, with this representing a step up in trip for the daughter of Kingsman.

She’s raced solely at a mile to date, but her dam was a top-class performer at 10 furlongs, winning the Middleton Stakes at York and the Group 1 Pretty Polly at the Curragh.

Laurel also has a couple of siblings who were best at this sort of trip, and she looks ready for the step up given how she shaped when far from fully fit at Ascot.

Friday: Emaraaty Ana

Qatar King George V Stakes

Emaraaty Ana shaped as if need of the run on his return from a break at Royal Ascot, and he can boast a fine record over five furlongs which includes a second in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York a couple of years ago and two in-frame efforts in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.

As those results suggest, his best form tends to come in the second half of the season, with his record from August to November in recent years being four wins, four seconds and three thirds from 14 runs, with his only poor effort coming back in 2020 when having a breathing issue which required surgery.

It may be argued that he’d not be the force of old at the age of eight, but he ended his time with Kevin Ryan by winning the Listed Rous Stakes over this trip at Ascot last autumn, and landed a big pot in Doha for new connections in February, so he’s not lost his zip by any means.

Much has been made of the relative weakness of the five furlongs division and that means that a horse with the proven back-class of Emaraaty Ana cannot be overlooked.

Saturday: Albasheer

Coral Stewards’ Cup

I’ve not repeated my comments from last week about runners from the David O’Meara stable as those ought to be fresh in the memory, but it’s been a few weeks since I wrote the following about my idea of the Stewards’ Cup winner, so I think it bears repeating.

“Albasheer can be a tricky ride, racing freely at times and not amenable to restraint, making Ascot and Newcastle far from ideal, for all he’s won twice at the latter track. He is at his best when speed is at a premium and tops my shortlist for the Stewards’ Cup at Goodwood in a few weeks, having run really well in the race last year. On that occasion, heavy ground placed too much emphasis on stamina but not before Albasheer had shaped well for a long way.

Granted a quicker surface he must go well off what looks a very fair mark having been dropped to 98 on turf (rated 108 on all-weather), bearing in mind he was beaten less than a length in the Ayr Gold Cup last autumn from 2lb higher having won an equally competitive handicap at York’s Ebor meeting from an official mark of 95. Despite his quirks, he seems to have improved further over the winter and while recent reverses suggest he’s not firing fully, I’m happy to be forgiving in the circumstances.”

Since penning that, Albasheer has run a stormer from a bad draw at Ascot, finishing second of 17 to Fair Wind despite a fair few things going wrong for him in the run.

I’d much rather he had finished a luckless fifth in truth, as he caught too many eyes on the day, but he would have been favourite on my tissue before Ascot and is able to race off the same mark here, which means that, with a dollop of luck and no biblical weather, he ought to win or go very close on Saturday.