Matt Brocklebank had a 14/1 winner on day one - don't miss his picks for day two of the Qatar Goodwood Festival.
Value Bet tips: Wednesday July 27
1pt win Luminous Light in 1.50 Goodwood at 28/1 (Hills)
1pt win Benefit in 2.25 Goodwood at 12/1 - VOID (Withdrawn)
1pt win Farasi Lane in 5.20 Goodwood at 16/1 (Hills)
With Coroebus ruled out through injury we’re left with just a couple of three-year-olds to tackle the unbeaten Baaeed in Wednesday’s Qatar Sussex Stakes and, unfortunately, neither Modern Games nor Angel Bleu looks good enough to lace his boots.
That could leave last year’s winner Alcohol Free as the one to give William Haggas’ star most to think about, and it’s fair to suggest she’s in a better place – perhaps mentally as well as physically – than she was when first pitched in against Baaeed in last year’s QEII, as well as in the Lockinge at Newbury earlier this season.
Her July Cup form still won’t be good enough to lower the favourite’s colours and he’s understandably long odds-on to complete a ninth straight win before the real fun begins in next month’s Juddmonte International at York.
There are bets to be had elsewhere on the card, though, and we’ll kick off with race one.
Some Charlie and Mark Johnston-trained horses are just begging to be backed at this meeting and LUMINOUS LIGHT stands out in the Coral Beaten-By-A-Length Free Bet Handicap.
He’s clearly got two ways of going and that’s summed up neatly by his juvenile campaign which consisted of a taking debut win at this track at the end of August, followed by a complete no-show when bidding to follow up under a penalty at Chester the following month.
He’s been in-and-out again at three too, but the gelding operation may just have helped connections find some stability and the horse surely clocked a career-best effort when beaten two lengths into third after being hampered at Ripon last month.
Denied a run on the rail soon after finding himself outpaced around two furlongs from home, the son of Iffraaj was staying on strongly at the finish, without Franny Norton resorting to the whip once, and he gets another shot off what looks a very fair handicap mark (85) here.
Luminous Light is out of a Galileo mare who is a full-sister to a handful of winners up to a mile and a half, and he seems sure to relish a first crack at that trip himself.
It could turn out to be a busy week for the horse as he’s got options on Thursday and Friday too, but I was surprised to see him as one of the outsiders of the field and, with Norton keeping the ride, he should be backed accordingly.
I’ve rose-tinted memories on the Whispering Angel Oak Tree Stakes having put up Last Empire at a price last year and, in the same Clipper Logistics silks, Improvised isn’t completely ruled out this year.
However, she looks a rung or two below a number of these and instead the suggestion is BENEFIT for Clive Cox.
Her six-furlong form with Sense Of Duty and Flotus from Haydock in May is pretty bombproof and she was behind Flotus again last time when catching the eye coming from well of the pace in a typical York sprint in which the early leaders simply didn’t come back to her last month.
That was quite a warm fillies’ Group Three, third home Gale Force Maya confirming the fact by winning a handicap from a mark of 104 back at the Knavesmire over the weekend, and Benefit’s effort can be marked up quite considerably given how far back she was early on.
Ryan Moore - in for John Fahy here – won’t find it easy to pull off those tactics at Goodwood but the sharp seven furlongs is expected to suit this horse, who pulled too hard and didn’t really get home on her previous try at the trip in the Fred Darling, and Timeform reckon Moore will have a ‘Strong’ pace to chase.
She’s going to need the breaks starting from out wide in stall 14 but Benefit has a huge amount of upside still and I don’t want to miss the boat when she finally starts to realise that potential.
The only other bet I'll be having on day two at Goodwood comes in the concluding World Pool Handicap which isn’t on ITV but probably should be as it's a wide-open handicap with loads of runners, and it’s not like we have an abundance of such races in the British racing calendar.
Anyway, the bet is hold-up horse FARASI LANE from the widest stall in 20.
He disappointed favourite-backers in the three-year-old seven-furlong handicap here last year but was only beaten a short head at this venue earlier in 2021 and I’m not too concerned about him handling the track.
Either side of the Goodwood flop last summer he won decent handicaps at Sandown, one of which was a 16-runner affair so the big field isn’t a worry either. This year he's been campaigned over a mile until now and has put in a couple of highly creditable efforts, both at Windsor, including last time when racing a bit more prominently and just losing out by a neck.
The third home Misty Grey has been second in a Listed race and won a handicap since so it's decent form for the grade and Farasi Lane has only gone up a pound. The tongue-tie and visor combination tried for the first time that day is understandably retained, while this race could really be run to suit with seven or eight genuine pace angles drawn down on the inside and likely to do each other's chances no favours at all.
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Published at 1600 BST on 26/07/22
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