Our racing expert Ben Linfoot has four selections for day four of the Qatar Goodwood Festival including in the Golden Mile.
The Verdict tips: Friday, August 4
1pt win Emiyn in 1.50 Goodwood at 14/1 (General)
1pt win Epictetus in 2.25 Goodwood at 17/2 (Hills)
1pt win Awaal in 3.00 Goodwood at 12/1 (bet365, 11/1 Ladbrokes, 10/1 General)
1pt win Whoop Whoop in 4.45 Goodwood at 10/1 (General)
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Hot favourites dominate day four
Plenty of punters will be on the Nostrum, Highfield Princess and Hamish treble on the Friday of the Qatar Goodwood Festival and all three have outstanding claims given what they’ve got in hand on official ratings.
Racing is very rarely as simple as that, though, and the one that looks short enough is Nostrum around 8/13 in the Group 3 Bonhams Thoroughbred Stakes over a mile at 2.25.
Sir Michael Stoute’s Kingman colt is an exciting prospect, there is no doubt, and his gentle rise in grade gives him an opportunity to keep on climbing the ladder with another win, but he does have a couple of questions to answer here.
The first of those is can he back up after just 22 days off following an absence of 278 days before that? And the second is how will he cope with what will likely be tacky ground as Goodwood continues to dry out following Wednesday’s deluge?
On balance, looking at his odds, I’m happy to have a go at him and it’s John & Thady Gosden’s EPICTETUS that looks capable of causing an upset under Frankie Dettori.
Another son of Kingman, he’s priced up at 17/2 on the back of finishing 13th at Royal Ascot last time, but he ran miles better than that, trading at 3/1 in-running in the Hampton Court Stakes as he travelled well and hit the front just over a furlong out.
He was swamped to his outside in the closing stages and Frankie went easy on him when headed, so he’s better judged on his earlier form that includes fifth places in the Dante and Prix du Jockey Club.
More will be needed to win this, but watching his last three runs over 10 furlongs it’s no wonder the Gosdens are dropping him back to a mile here and getting away from fast summer ground could do him the world of good, as well.
Gosden has a fine record when dropping horses back from around 10 furlongs to a mile (39/170 at 22.94%) and there’s hope that Epictetus will take to Goodwood well given his dam, Thistle Bird, was a neck second in both a Celebration Mile and Nassau here.
She got better with age and racing and it wouldn’t surprise if Epictetus is a similar sort, so he’s worth a small bet to lower the colours of the hottest favourite of the day.
The Verdict: Back EPICTETUS in 2.25 Goodwood
Crisfords have the key to the Golden Mile
There are several likely types in the Coral Golden Mile but some of those towards the top of the betting, like Lattam and Blue For You, could be at the mercy of the Goodwood Gods as they bid to wriggle through traffic late on.
I would nearly always rather back a horse less likely to encounter trouble in the run in a race like this and Charlie Johnston’s The Gatekeeper was firmly on the radar with this in mind.
His seven-furlong pace could be a real asset from stall five and colleague Matt Brocklebank fleshes out the case for him very nicely here, but I just wonder if he might be picked up by a classier rival sitting on his shoulder in the home straight.
That brings me to Simon & Ed Crisford’s AWAAL, a four-year-old son of Lope De Vega who has racked up an impressive C.V in some of the top mile handicaps this season.
Second in the Lincoln and third in the Royal Hunt Cup, he’s been knocking on the door and it looked like the seven-furlong trip just caught him out in the Bunbury Cup last time out, where he was third.
He has beaten 60 horses in those three aforementioned races, firmly suggesting he’s capable of winning a big pot off his current mark of 105, and perhaps Friday will be the day it all falls into place.
First-time cheekpieces are applied, which is encouraging given Crisford is 7-35 at 20% when applying that headgear first time in handicaps, Harry Davies takes 3lb off him for the first time and a mile around Goodwood with a bit of cut in the ground could be perfect for the horse.
He has yet to race at the venue, but his half-brother Breton Rock loved the place and the set-up of this race, where he should be able to travel away with his customary zest just in behind the leaders, looks ideal.
The Verdict: Back AWAAL for the Golden Mile
Emiyn to play catch-me-if-you-can in the opener
Declan Carroll’s EMIYN looks worth backing at 14/1 in the opening Coral Goodwood Handicap over the extended two and a half miles.
This is the first time he’s crept into a mark in the 90s in his life, so a career-best is required, but he looked better than ever when winning at Chester last time and he looks the ideal type for Goodwood.
Always being on the turn at Chester keeps him interested and he should love the twists and turns of this course, while this perennial front-runner could well get loose on the lead at some stage as there doesn’t look an awful lot of pace pressure on paper (if Aggagio pulls his way to the front again, getting a tow into things off him might not be such a bad thing).
Zak Wheatley gets on great guns with Emiyn, the 5lb claimer winning twice on this horse (both at Chester) from three goes, and he has won nine races for Carroll at a strike-rate of 17% this year.
He loves a bit of cut in the ground, so he wouldn’t want it to dry out too much, but as things stand the 14/1 looks a perfectly fair wager.
The Verdict: Back EMIYN in the 1.50 Goodwood
Whoop to scoop nursery pot
Finally, we get the chance to back WHOOP WHOOP again (after she was a non-runner at York on Saturday) in the nursery at 4.45.
She has quickly recovered from the rash that ruled her out of the Knavesmire contest, and while this is a much tougher race she could be too well treated to ignore at 10/1.
I fancy her to turn around the form with Pontefract winner Mauna Loa on this faster sprint track, as she skipped clear that day, the eventual winner being outpaced before staying on and denying Whoop Whoop late in proceedings.
The runner-up’s effort was a taking one with handicaps in mind and the third home, Sacred Angel, did her bit for the form by winning the Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes by three lengths at Ascot on Saturday.
Whoop Whoop is one of the more experienced horses in the field with four runs under her belt, but she has only raced once on turf over six furlongs – that Ponte second – so she’s hugely unexposed and could be lobbed in off a mark of 76.
Trainer Ralph Beckett has a strong hand here, but Rob Hornby presumably had the pick of the trio and at 10s she’s worth backing in the hope he’s on the right one.
The Verdict: Back WHOOP WHOOP in the 4.45 Goodwood
Preview posted at 1700 BST on 03/08/23
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