Check out the view from connections ahead of Friday's feature action at the Qatar Goodwood Festival.
Goodwood speed test for Raasel could lead to even bigger things
Raasel bids to continue his rapid ascent up the sprinting ladder in the King George Qatar Stakes at Goodwood on Friday.
Snapped up for just 10,000 guineas out of Marcus Tregoning’s yard two years ago, the five-year-old has proved yet another astute purchase by successful ownership group The Horse Watchers.
After three readying runs in the early part of 2021, Raasel went on to complete a five-timer between September and November and has continued in the same vein this term – winning three of his five starts.
Having proven himself capable of scoring in Listed and Group Three company, Mick Appleby’s charge tests the water at Group Two level on his return to Goodwood, where his record stands at two from two.
Pundit and broadcaster Chris Dixon, who partly manages The Horse Watchers, said: “We’re really looking forward to it. I went into Mick’s on Wednesday morning to see him and he’s ready to go.
“This is the race that we’ve always had our eye on, even before he ran in the Listed race at Haydock. You know that bridge from handicaps to Group races in five-furlong races isn’t always massive and we know he likes Goodwood so much, so basically after he won his handicap there earlier in the season, we kind of thought this is where we’d come and it was just a case of how we got here.
“We expect him to run well. This is the next step up the ladder and we’ll see if he’s good enough, but we certainly hope he is.”
Dixon hopes a positive performance on the Sussex Downs can earn Raasel a shot at some even loftier targets later in the year, both on home soil and abroad.
He added: “He’s in the Flying Five at the Curragh and he’s in the Nunthorpe at York. Whatever happens here, so long as he comes out of it well, I think we’ll be running in the Nunthorpe and we’ll go from there.
“We’ll think about the Breeders’ Cup at the end of the season potentially as well, so it’s exciting stuff and we’re going to find out a lot more in the next couple of months, I guess.”
Raasel renews rivalry with several horses who finished behind him in the Coral Charge at Sandown four weeks ago, most notably the Roger Varian-trained runner-up Mitbaahy, who has only a neck to find.
Charlie Hills saddles the sixth home Equilateral, who has since finishing third in a Group Two at the Curragh, as well as Khaadem, who was last seen winning the Palace House at Newmarket in April.
It has been a while between drinks for Nigel Tinkler’s stable star Acklam Express, who has failed to get his head in front since winning a Listed prize at York two years ago.
The previous course and distance winner has run plenty of sound races in defeat in the meantime, though, most notably when third to Australian speedball Nature Strip when a 200-1 shot for the King’s Stand at Royal Ascot last month.
Tinkler said: “I’m very happy and the horse is very, very well. I’m happy with the draw, I’m happy with the horse and I’m happy with the ground, so I just hope I’m happy with the result!
“The horse went to Richard Fahey’s last Saturday and worked and we were very pleased. He’s as good as we can have him and hopefully everything goes right.
“He hasn’t won for a while, but they become very hard to place. He ran very well at Ascot, he finished second in a Group Two in Dubai earlier in the year and was third in a Group One out there last year, so he’s done it all and I think he’s the highest rated horse in the race.”
Charlie Appleby saddles Lazuli, who beat Acklam Express in the Blue Point Sprint at Meydan in February, but was slightly disappointing in finishing ninth in the King’s Stand.
“He’s most definitely come forward for his run at Ascot last time,” Appleby told the Godolphin website.
“He’s a natural five-furlong horse in a race in which experienced, battle-hardened sprinters come to the fore. Goodwood’s ‘five’ suits a natural speedster like him.”
Bayside Boy in good shape for Thoroughbred challenge
Roger Varian considers Bayside Boy to hold a “strong chance” in the Bonhams Thoroughbred Stakes at Goodwood on Friday.
A select field of seven line up for the Group Three contest over a mile, with last season’s Champagne Stakes winner Bayside Boy bidding to back up a fine run in the St James’s Palace Stakes, when two lengths behind 2000 Guineas winner Coroebus.
The Newmarket handler was pleased with that outing, coming on the back of a muddling seasonal debut in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains at ParisLongchamp.
Varian said: “He ran well at Ascot in the St James’s Palace, which is proving to be a strong piece of form and there is plenty to take from the race.
“We would look at that race as his first proper race of the season – the French Guineas was a bit of a non-event, so we think that piece of form at Ascot would present him with a strong chance in this race.
“He didn’t have the smoothest of passages at Ascot and then finished his race off very strongly. He’s got very good two-year-old form and we’re looking forward to getting back on track with him.”
Bayside Boy renews rivalry with Andrew Balding’s Coventry winner Berkshire Shadow, who finished a neck in front of him in the St James’s Palace before finishing third in a Listed contest tat Newmarket.
There is plenty of international interest, with Norsk 2000 Guineas winner Hotline Bling in contention for Brazilian-born Norwegian trainer Raphael Freire and Germany’s Peter Schiergen responsible for Rocchigiani, who was runner-up to Maljoom in the German 2000 Guineas before going down in trip to run Noble Truth close in the Jersey at Royal Ascot.
William Knight insists Checkandchallenge, who made up plenty of ground late on to get within three-quarters of a length of Sinjaari in the valuable Coral Challenge handicap at Sandown on his previous outing, is ready for a step back up in class.
The Newmarket handler said: “He has come out of that Sandown race well. He did a nice bit of work on Saturday morning.
“I think the race looks good, a small field could suit him and as long as he handles the track, I think he will run a big race. We sweetened him up after a break and he goes into it in good order. He looks really well and I think he’ll go very close.”
A strapping son of Galileo Gold, The Wizard Of Eye has been highly tried by trainer Stan Moore, who says he is no back number after having excuses when fifth in the German Guineas.
“The horse is in good form and we are hoping for a nice run,” said Moore.
“He has had big asks. In the German Guineas he was taken out of it in the first furlong. He got a nice position and another horse came across him and took about three horses out. He was unlucky to be out the frame.
“He hasn’t run for a while because he is 17.1 hands. He ran in February and we are hoping to go to a couple of places in the winter with him. You have to skip some of the season if you want to do a bit in the winter.
“He will go to France later in the year and if his rating came up and we got an invite to Saudi again you would go there because he proved in the Saudi Derby that he handles the dirt over there, or Dubai.”
The Charlie Hills-trained Sonny Liston, who is having his first run since finishing 15th of 17 in Desert Crown’s Derby, completes the line-up.
Appleby mob-handed with leading claims
The other Group Three contest is the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate Glorious Stakes, run over a mile and a half, which has attracted a field of nine.
Charlie Appleby seeks to win the prize for the first time and saddles a trio, headed by UAE Derby winner Rebel’s Romance, who last month took the Listed Fred Archer at Newmarket on his first run back following a break of over four months.
Appleby, who also runs Global Storm and Kemari, said on the Godolphin website: “Rebel’s Romance worked very well at the weekend. The track might be against him as he is a big-striding, good-moving type of horse, but he’s in great order and has come forward for his last run, which was his only run on turf to date. He’s come out of that in great shape and there is further improvement to come.
“Kemari will be competitive if he produces his last run at Newmarket, which was creditable.”
Sir Michael Stoute, who has won this race six times, including three of the last six renewals, relies on Sandown’s Gala Stakes runner-up Regal Reality, while Max Vega concedes 3lb to his rivals after winning the Group Three John Porter at Newbury on his seasonal bow for Ralph Beckett.
Meanwhile, Richard Hannon is looking ahead to stepping Fancy Man up in trip after this, following his close-up fifth to Get Shirty in the Old Newton Cup at Haydock.
That run came on soft ground, yet the East Everleigh handler insists all conditions come the same to the four-year-old, who has the valuable Ebor Handicap at York in his sights.
Hannon said: “We were very pleased with his last run at Haydock and we are thinking about the Ebor, so this looks a nice race for him pre-Ebor.
“He had a three-month break prior to his last run and that sweetened him up. Ground-wise he’s fine and has run well on good to firm before."
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