Humidity and Illinois are amongst the stars in action on day one at Goodwood

Glorious Goodwood Tips: Tuesday Q&A including Goodwood Cup

By Sporting Life

Horse Racing

Wed July 23, 2025 · 5M ago

Our team of experts answer some of the key questions following the six-day confirmations for Tuesday's racing at Glorious Goodwood.

Is Illinois a banker in the Goodwood Cup?

Matt Brocklebank: Goodwood and banker aren’t necessarily two words I could put so close together but I do like this spot for Illinois. It was interesting to hear Aidan O’Brien say that the Gold Cup probably came a year too soon for him this summer but he still ran a very good race in second at Ascot and is likely to be fully primed for this slightly sharper test on his third start of the campaign. He is a very classy operator for two-mile races – something his yard has been doing for decades – but it will obviously be fascinating to see whether three-year-old stablemate Scandinavia joins him in the final field as is sounds like Lambourn is going the St Leger route (Voltigeur next), which might just pave the way for this Justify colt to step right up in trip. He looks very progressive with the cheekpieces on.

Ben Linfoot: He’s 8/11 and shorter and as the odds suggest he’s got convincing claims. The son of Galileo looked in very good nick when he beat a most solid yardstick in Al Qareem in the Ormonde Stakes on his return at Chester and there was no shame in being beaten into second by Trawlerman in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot. Whether he was beaten for stamina or class there is conjecture but either way dropping to two miles against this opposition provides him with a fine chance of breaking his Group 1 duck. Those looking to get him beat might look to the ‘big horse tackling a tricky track’ angle and a few of his rivals are proven around here, but it looks a pretty flimsy reason to take him on.

David Ord: A worthy favourite but not banker material. Sweet William and Trueshan are good yardsticks in this division, and you wouldn’t quite know where French Master’s ceiling is right now. He’s quirky but finds tonnes off the bridle as he did when winning the Copper Horse at Royal Ascot last time. He’s seven pounds behind Illinois on Timeform ratings going into the race and I think he can close that gap – whether by enough to turn the favourite over though might be another matter.

Another good Irish Derby day for the Ballydoyle team

Illinois bids to win another Goodwood Cup for Team Ballydoyle

How do you rate the 3yo challenge in the Lennox Stakes?

Matt Brocklebank: You tend to only get the second and third-rate three-year-olds contesting the Lennox these days, which probably helps explain why there has only been once winner from the Classic generation in the past decade, but it could be a very respectable challenge this time around. You’ve got the one-two from the Jersey Stakes in Noble Champion and Spy Chief, and perhaps the biggest danger to the more established horses in Jonquil. Andrew Balding’s horse looked to find six furlongs on rattling quick ground a bit too hot to handle in the Commonwealth Cup but his earlier form at Newbury and Longchamps suggests he could be a massive player in this sort of company.

Ben Linfoot: Yes, it looks good, particularly Jonquil and Noble Champion. I was slightly surprised to see Jonquil tackle the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, connections opting for an alternative Group 1 given they had Field Of Gold over a mile in the St James’s Palace Stakes, but the Jersey would’ve been a better option for Jonquil in hindsight. He gets to go for a seven-furlong Group 2 here and if he bounces back to the form he showed in the French 2000 Guineas I expect he will be difficult to beat. Noble Champion did go for the Jersey Stakes and he won the Royal Ascot Group 3 emphatically, belying odds of 25/1. Ed Walker’s horse didn’t look particularly comfortable around Goodwood in a conditions race in May, but that was over a mile and he did travel well in fairness. This looks an obvious target for him, but Jonquil is the pick of the three-year-olds in an intriguing race.

David Ord: I think it’s very strong. Noble Champion justified Ed Walker’s high opinion of him when winning the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot, producing a potent turn of foot to settle matters. However, it’s interesting to hear the trainer express concern over whether he’ll be quite as well suited by seven furlongs at Goodwood and I think Jonquil is a huge player in this. The Commonwealth Cup proved sprinting isn’t his game but his head defeat to Henri Matisse reads well and he looks tailormade for this test, potentially improving for it too.

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Will Humidity still be unbeaten after the Vintage Stakes?

Matt Brocklebank: We’ve only got the six-day confirmations of course but I think I could be happy enough to take this one on. The Chesham runner-up has since been beaten in a maiden and the Group 2 Vintage should take a good bit more winning than the Royal Ascot race. I love the very well-bred grey Dorset and he looks on a steep upward trajectory for Ballydoyle, while American Gulf could be worth a second look at a bigger price as he was a bit of a springer in the Coventry Stakes market and didn’t really allow himself to show his true colours after getting upset at the start at the Royal meeting.

Ben Linfoot: He could be as he impressed in the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot but this will likely require another step up. July Stakes one-two Zavateri and Do Or Do Not could offer quality domestic opposition and who knows who Aidan O’Brien will select for this from Brussels, Dorset, Neolithic and Puerto Rico. It’s unlikely to be easy for Humidity, but he showed great battling qualities in the Chesham and he looks a talented horse who will get further, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s disputing favouritism even if the July Stakes form looks slightly stronger.

David Ord: I’d be looking to take him on. Seven at Goodwood is a very different test to the Chesham and there’s the July Stakes one-two plus a host of interesting last-time-out winners taking him on. I’d be very keen on Dorset were he to turn up given the way he won at the Curragh and the O’Brien two-year-olds are enjoying another stellar year. I’d also keep Morris Dancer on side. He was still green as grass through halfway at Haydock last time, but the penny dropped and he came through to win well. There’s plenty of improvement left in him and he’s in very good hands.

Zavateri wins the July Stakes

Give us one on the radar for the handicaps on day one?

Matt Brocklebank: They’re not on the ITV programme but I quite like the fillies’ handicaps that close the card on day one. Look out for Arabian Leopard – in the same Fitri Hay silks as the aforementioned American Gulf – in the six-furlong event. She appeared to take to sprinting like a natural at Newmarket the other week and gets another chance off the same mark which should prove to be within her range in the fullness of time.

Ben Linfoot: I like sprinters with course form at Goodwood and Rosario travelled nicely when winning at the track over five furlongs in May. Since then he’s run over six furlongs, at Windsor and when a 7lb claimer took the blindfold off late at Royal Ascot, so things haven’t gone his way, but he returns to Goodwood off a mark 1lb lower than the one he won off three months ago for the 0-105 at 3.45 on Tuesday. He should get in towards the lower echelon of the handicap and he’s very much on the radar.

David Ord: Can I swerve the handicaps? No, please. Look it might be a red-hot two-year-old maiden at 4.20 and Wathnan Racing have three entries, James Doyle jocked up for Karl Burke’s Naval Light but keep an eye on Richard Fahey’s Tactical Formation for the same team. He was an expensive breeze-up purchase and looked very much in need of the run on his debut at York. The yard’s juveniles are going better now and it’s interesting that he was put in the Gimcrack, one of only two entries for the stable.