Goodwood Saturday
1.05 British European Breeders Fund EBF Maiden Stakes 7f
This is a slightly odd contest to kick off Saturday’s coverage on ITV, but on the plus side, there are enough form clues in this particular maiden, with Classic looking a smart prospect when fourth on his debut at Newbury.
He’s out of George Washington’s only foal, Date With Destiny, and holds entries in the Champagne Stakes and the 2023 Derby to back up his pedigree and the strong impression he made on his racecourse bow.
Classic has most to fear from The Foxes, who was also fourth in a Newbury novice first time before disappointing from what turned out to be a poor draw in the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Debut effort
That run is easily ignored, and a debut effort which saw him beaten just over two lengths by the Superlative Stakes third Dark Thirty looks even better when considering the second and third from that race were winners at Goodwood during the week.
He was just a nose behind Marbaan at Newbury, and that form looks all the better after the latter landed the Group 2 Vintage Stakes on Tuesday.
Betting on maidens isn’t usually appealing, given the unknowns involved, but the front pair set a very high standard for a race like this, and I’ll be extremely surprised if the don’t fill the first two places, with Classic readily preferred for major honours.
1.40 Coral Stewards’ Sprint Handicap 6f
The field for the Stewards’ Sprint is disappointing with many of those balloted out of the Stewards’ Cup not declared again for this consolation, which seems odd.
In fairness, I wouldn’t blame a few trainers for looking at this race, and deciding that they don’t fancy facing progressive three-year-old Lethal Levi at the weights.
Karl Burke’s strapping son of champion sprinter Lethal Force has come on in leaps and bounds – very much in line with his physique – and gets in here on 9lb lower than his current mark due to the fact this is effectively an early-closing race.
That takes into account the 6lb penalty he gets for his most impressive win yet at Newmarket last week, and I’m far from certain his new mark of 100 will stop him in future.
In short, he looks banker material here, and while he’s sure to be a fairly short price, I doubt he’ll be nearly as short as he should be.
2.10 Coral Summer Handicap 1m 6f
Valley Forge finished weakly when seventh in the Northumberland Plate, but he travelled like the wrath of God that day, perhaps doing a bit too much, and I thought his stamina ran out over that testing two miles behind Trueshan.
Prior to Newcastle, he had won well in a traditionally strong handicap at Haydock, and he was hugely impressive when landing the Melrose Handicap at York last year.
His Melrose win gives him a guaranteed place in the Ebor next month, but he is currently rated 93, and the conditions of his entry mean that he will have to race from out of the handicap.
He doesn’t need to win this to get in the Ebor per se, but he will be no higher in the weights if he wins, with a penalty very unlikely to increase his actual weight in that race.
Great strength
Given his great strength is the way he travels in his races, he ought to be well suited by Goodwood, and a relative test of speed at the trip should serve him better than most.
Good or good-to-firm ground is important to him, and his record in such a surface – based on Timeform’s ground assessment – after a recent run reads 2111.
2.45 Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes (Group 2) 1m 6f
With the exception of Typewriter, it’s hard to rule anything out of the Lillie Langtry, although a couple would prefer softer ground, notably Urban Artist, who produced a career best over course and distance on this day last year when the mud was flying.
Sea La Rosa has obvious claims but makes limited appeal at forecast odds, and I thought there was a bit more value in backing Viola, who was second to her under a misjudged ride in the Pinnacle Stakes at Haydock in May.
Viola was beaten five and a half lengths in the Aphrodite Stakes at Newmarket last time, but kept on well late on that day.
Time may tell she faced an impossible task conceding weight to the exciting Eternal Pearl there.
She’s best on good or quicker ground, promises to improve a little for having her stamina drawn out, and makes appeal at around 14/1.
3.20 Coral Stewards’ Cup (Heritage Handicap) 6f
In the main event, a draw of 10 is perhaps not ideal for my ante-post selection Summerghand, but he came down the centre when winning this race two years ago, and his hold-up style means his draw is less crucial than if he needed to be on the pace.
He is 8lb lower than for his win in 2020, and the key to him is that he needs the summer sun on his back.
Summer form
His form in spring and autumn is patchy, but his record in the middle of the summer stands the closest scrutiny, with form figures outside of group company in July and August in the past five years of: 12131342112015.
The last five came when running on under hands and heels in the Wokingham behind Rohaan, and he’s been dropped again for that back-to-form effort.
I’ll be disappointed if Summerghand’s out of the places.
3.55 Medallia Handicap 7f
Laasudood has run his only sub-par races at Newmarket, so it’s easy to forgive him an underwhelming effort behind Jimi Hendrix there last time, when he didn’t seem to enjoy himself. His previous win at Doncaster confirms his quality, and his second to Secret State at Nottingham before that has worked out tremendously well.
That colt scored at Royal Ascot and then followed up off a much higher mark earlier in the week here, paying a compliment to the Hannon horse, who threatened to spring a shock at Nottingham, trading 1.4 in the run.
Laasudood has the ideal draw in stall one, with a bias towards low numbers over 7f here shown already at the meeting, and with a strong pace also sure to suit, he will be hard to contain.
Recommended
Classic/The Foxes 1.05 Goodwood – 1pt SFC
Lethal Levi 1.40 Goodwood – 2pts win @ 7/4 (general)
Valley Forge 2.10 Goodwood – 1.5pts e/w @ 5/1 (SkyBet, Hills – 5 places)
Summerghand 3.20 Goodwood – 1pt e/w @ 14/1 (Coral, Ladbrokes, BetVictor – 6 places)