Goodwood tips: Course specialists back for another crack at 2023 Qatar Goodwood Festival

Lord Riddiford (13:40 Goodwood, Tuesday)

Lord Riddiford has finished down the field in two starts on turf so far this season, though it’s worth pointing out that he arrived on the back of a similarly underwhelming run of form when winning this race in both 2021 and 2022. He lines up from a BHA mark of 84 in his hat-trick attempt, 3lb lower than when successful 12 months ago. Versatile with regards going, he clearly has lots in his favour after nine weeks off, though it will be interesting to see how he’s ridden from stall 15. He is drawn closest to the stands rail and might need luck to get a run if dropped in again having come from behind in both his previous wins.

Kinross (16:00 Goodwood, Tuesday)

Kinross won the Lennox Stakes in 2021 and he only narrowly missed out on repeating that success last year when passing the post just a neck behind the filly Sandrine. He is clearly very well suited by these conditions and should be spot on for this Group 2 having acquitted himself well in a couple of top-level sprints so far this season. A dual Group 1 winner last autumn, he certainly has a class edge over his eight rivals here if bouncing back to his best. For context, he is 5lb clear of his main form rival, Isaac Shelby, on Timeform’s weight-adjusted ratings, while the forecast softer ground will be right up his street, too.

Lyndon B (17:20 Goodwood, Wednesday)

Lyndon B has made five starts at Goodwood in his career and three times he’s finished in the first three, with his sole victory coming in this race last year. He was given an excellent, ground-saving ride by Daniel Muscutt on that occasion, finishing well to win by a length and a quarter having been patiently ridden from his wide draw. This year he’s gradually fallen in the weights having finished unplaced in all three starts, though he’s shown enough to suggest he retains all his ability. This race has probably been his target for a while and a 3lb higher mark than 12 months ago looks far from insurmountable on his best form.

Aggagio (13:50 Goodwood, Thursday)

Aggagio proved a disappointment when finishing only fifth at this course last time, but his record at his beloved Goodwood is impossible to knock otherwise. After all, that was the first time in seven starts here that he’d finished out of the first two having previously registered four wins and two seconds. Three of those wins came in 2022 and it was only in May that he produced a career best here to fill the runner-up spot, passing the post less than three lengths behind the subsequent Gold Cup winner Courage Mon Ami. This will be the further he’s ever gone on the Flat, but he stays two miles well and certainly isn’t handicapped out of things from a BHA mark of 87.

Rhoscolyn (15:00 Goodwood, Friday)

Rhoscolyn is also entered in the finale on Wednesday’s card, but this valuable contest is surely the main target if sneaking in at the bottom of the weights having given a good account in the last two renewals. He was runner-up in 2021, beaten less than two lengths, before finishing seventh when not getting the rub of the green last year, always on the back foot after a slow start and also meeting a bit of trouble. Successful over seven furlongs here back in May 2021, he is below his last winning mark following a quiet start to the campaign and should be winning again before too long having taken a big step back in the right direction at Beverley last time (replay below).

Spanish Star (15:35 Goodwood, Saturday)

Spanish Star might be vulnerable to a less-exposed sort in the Stewards’ Cup, but there aren’t many more likeable horses around and he’s shown himself to be at least as good as ever this year at the age of eight. When he won here in May, it was the fifth time he’d passed the post in front over this course and distance (demoted once), while his subsequent victory at Epsom the following month was a career best. A real credit to his connections, he showed he can be competitive from this mark when finishing fifth in the Buckingham Palace at Royal Ascot and this test will suit him much better than the small-field event he ran in back at Ascot last time.

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