Our form expert tipped 16/1 winner Royal Champion on Saturday and he has two selections for day one of the Qatar Goodwood Festival.
The Verdict: Tuesday July 29
1pt e.w. Sir Busker in 1.20 Goodwood at 25/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4,5)
1pt win Audience in 2.30 Goodwood at 11/2 (William Hill)
Audience will be happy at Glorious Goodwood
The Group 1 Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup Stakes is the feature race on day one of the Qatar Goodwood Festival and Aidan O’Brien has thrown a curveball into the mix by running both Illinois and the three-year-old Scandinavia.
Three-year-olds get a seemingly generous 14lb on the weight-for-age at this distance at this time of year but 16 have run in this race since 1997 and only one has won – and that was a staying great in Stradivarius.
Scandinavia looked very good in the Bahrain Trophy, but he might not have beaten much and it could be that his presence has inflated Illinois’s price to a backable one at around 6/4 given his form has much more depth.
Still, I’d rather leave that race alone with plenty of betting opportunities elsewhere on the card including in the Group 2 HKJC World Pool Lennox Stakes over seven furlongs.
Kinross has won this a couple of times and he’s back for more while Jonquil looked a three-year-old going places prior to his Commonwealth Cup flop and he should be happier at seven furlongs.
The problem is those two are drawn out wider than ideal (both might prefer more juice in the ground, too) and I do think AUDIENCE could get the run of the race once again just like he did 12 months ago.
Last year he got the perfect tow into proceedings by Art Power and won easily by four lengths despite saddling a Group 1 penalty after his Lockinge win.
This year he has no penalty and there is a possibility that he gets an equally good set-up in the slipstream of perennial frontrunner Quinault, who looks the obvious one to take them along, with Audience slotting into a prominent position from a nice draw in four.
In that scenario he’d quickly become a very dangerous rival and while he is a bit of a character and hard to predict his very best form is up there with Kinross’ and clear of the rest.
He hung his chance away at Haydock last time but at least his defeat is easily explained and he glided around Goodwood in this race last year.
The Gosdens are in great form and they’ve added cheekpieces to Audience for obvious reasons after his Haydock run.
Given he’s won well in both a first-time hood and when the hood was first removed he’s clearly suited by a headgear tweak and, if the sheepskin has the desired effect, he could well become the fourth dual winner of the race in its 25-year history.
The Verdict: Back AUDIENCE in the 2.30 Goodwood
Busker to call the tune in opener
The market for the opening Coral Chesterfield Cup Handicap over 10 furlongs is dominated by progressive four-year-olds and any of them could win.
However, there are loads of potential pacesetters in this race and an end-to-end gallop looks a strong possibility so I wouldn’t rule out the closers including William Knight’s nine-year-old SIR BUSKER.
The son of Sir Prancealot has been a super horse for connections and was rated 115 at one point, but he still carries a threat in this type of race from his reduced mark.
Indeed, last August he won a valuable Ebor meeting handicap at York from a mark of 105 and last time at Sandown he almost capitalised from running off his lowest handicap rating in five years (100) when beaten a neck at Sandown.
He’s only been nudged up 1lb and that gives him a good chance here at a track where his form figures are 219248.
That fourth was at this meeting last year where he finished amongst horses rated higher than him in a conditions race, but he’s better suited to the demands of a well-run handicap.
Knight is in great form and he has compiled an excellent record in handicaps the last few years, his runners still seemingly underestimated by the market.
Sir Busker has a wide draw here in 16, but jockey Brandon Wilkie will be dropping him out for a late run anyway and he’s a horse that revels in the chaos of a big-field handicap.
The Verdict: Back SIR BUSKER in the 1.20 Goodwood
Preview posted at 1600 BST on 28/07/25
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