The horse racing broadcaster offers up five selections for the third day of Glorious Goodwood, including one in the final Group 1 of the week, the Nassau.
Thursday marks the halfway stage of the Visit Qatar Goodwood Festival, with the focus on the Fillies and the possibility of some rain in the afternoon.
The last Group 1 of the week is the Nassau, where one of the toughest horses of the season WHIRL 6/5 (15:05 Goodwood) should follow up her victory at the Curragh. She saw off Kalpana that day to land her first success at the highest level, and the form clearly has some substance after Kalpana’s King George second at Ascot last week. Prior to that, Whirl had been impressive in the Musidora before being, to my mind, the best filly in the Oaks, but slightly sacrificed for her stable companion and winner Minnie Hauk by being ridden aggressively to try and exploit the stamina doubts about Desert Flower.
Despite using up a lot of petrol early, she still displayed the battling qualities that set her apart in only giving best very late in the day. See The Fire heads the opposition having shown a superb turn of foot in the Middleton at York, but she seems to reserve her best for that track and the form has not really worked out, with all her seven rivals that day failing to win next time out. Uncomplicated, proven on soft and with such an admirable attitude, Whirl can give Aidan O’Brien another Group 1 on the Downs.
The card starts with a large field of three-year-olds for a 10f handicap. DAIQUIRI BAY 22/1 (13:20 Goodwood) is worth persevering with after never getting involved in the King George V handicap at Royal Ascot, having been dropped in from a wide gate. He first caught my eye when running second as a juvenile on debut at Newbury, as Alan King’s two-year-olds nearly always need the experience on debut (5/203, A/E 0.69). For that reason, any that even make the frame are worth noting. He confirmed that debut promise by winning by 5l on his seasonal return at Chester, and he’s a nice prospect for a yard that could obviously do with a pick me up after the terribly sad loss of Trueshan on Tuesday.
The two-year-old Group 2 race of the day is the 6f Markel Richmond Stakes, where Coventry third COPPULL 3/1 (13:55 Goodwood) can gain his first Pattern success. He knew his job at Leicester on debut but impressed with the way he knuckled down when pressed late on, and that was the same when upped considerably in grade at Ascot where, while no match for Gstaad, he once again saw it right out to the line. It has been a slightly quieter year for Clive Cox juveniles in terms of the number of runners, but they often punch above their weight in Pattern company (27/176, A/E 1.26) and Coppull so far looks the pick of this year’s bunch.
The Group 3 Gordon Stakes over 12f for three-year-olds can be seen as Leger trial, but this week has already thrown up a major contender for the final Classic of the season in Goodwood Cup winner Scandinavia and it is likely Ralph Beckett has other targets in mind for SIR DINADAN 8/1 (14:30 Goodwood), who will be suited by any rain that does fall during the day. He is a strikingly good looking horse and is proven at the track, having run well here in May before running well above his odds in the Irish Derby behind Lambourn. For a while on that day it looked as if he may provide a shock before losing a couple of places close to home. He faces an opponent with plenty of potential in King George V handicap winner Merchant, but Sir Dinadan looks overpriced here at bigger odds than Wimbledon Hawkeye, and it would be wrong to dismiss his Irish Derby run as a fluke. Merchant has yet to race on anything slower than Good to Firm, and if there is significant rainfall it would be no surprise if Sir Dinadan came in for plenty of market support.
The last of the five ITV races is a tricky large field 5f handicap for three-year-olds. Richard Newland and Jamie Insole perhaps used up their good fortune for the week in that incident packed Lennox, but they have a leading player here in RUBY’S PROFIT 11/2 (15:45 Ascot), who is all about speed. She can be tricky in the preliminaries as she just wants to get on with things, but like at Epsom in the three-year-old Dash she will be well suited by the downhill track. Although it is always easy to assume that rain could potentially blunt that speed, it is worth remembering that there was some rain about that day at Epsom as well. Certainly the track will suit better than Ascot, where she still ran a creditable seventh behind Adrestia and Redorange in the Holyrood House and both of those horses ran well here on Tuesday.
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- Source: https://blog.betway.com/horse-racing/richard-hoiles-my-best-bets-for-thursday-at-goodwood-1/