Glorious Goodwood
1.50pm
Mancini
I’m sure many will look at his run in the Ascot Stakes and have him marked down as a non-stayer here. But Ascot’s 2m4f is very different to Goodwood’s. It is relentless and gruelling, whereas Goodwood gives you three or four opportunities to get a breather into your horse, so the trip doesn’t concern me for Mancini. All he did at York last time was gallop and battle, and another thing in his favour is that he likes to race prominently and for some reason that is the place to be in this race, as we saw last year when Lil Rockerfeller picked them off. I wouldn’t say my horse has much in hand of the handicapper after being raised 2lb for York, but he has a fair bit to recommend him, not least the fact that he is a course winner who will love the ground if it stays dry.
2.25pm
Durston
I think Eminence is probably the one we all have to beat on his Ascot third, even though he was beaten last time, but my horse is progressive. He made his reappearance for me in a hot Windsor maiden and he has improved from there in a success over 1m6f at Doncaster in a valuable handicap, and at Chester last time. He meets a better grade of horse here and needs to step up again, but hopefully the potential is there.
3.35pm
Phoenix Of Spain
There are two ways of looking at Phoenix Of Spain’s odds for this race. The first is that 6-1 is a big price on his defeat of his Too Darn Hot in the Irish 2000 Guineas, where he really was impressive, and the other is that it is a fair assessment on his Ascot run behind Circus Maximus. But I do know that they weren’t happy with him after Ascot, and that is the first time he has ever disappointed us. Maybe it came too soon after the Curragh, but he has had a nice break since Ascot and let’s hope we can get back on track here. This could be a tactical race, but let’s see how it plays out. The betting suggests that the 3yos have it between them but the Classic generation haven’t shone against the older horses so far, the July Cup aside, and nobody should be underestimating the likes of Lord Glitters.
4.45pm
Lady Of Shalott
It is hard to quantify what she did when winning a four-runner race over 1m4f at Newmarket last time, but she appeared to do it well enough. Hopefully, she will get a strong gallop to aim at in this bigger field, stepping back down to 1m2f, and this Camelot filly can build on that win.
