Qatar Goodwood Festival reflections: Our team on the big questions

By Sporting Life

Horse Racing

Mon August 04, 2025 · 5M ago

Matt Brocklebank, Ben Linfoot and David Ord look to answer some of the big questions following the Qatar Goodwood Festival.

How do you see the Leger following Scandinavia’s Goodwood Cup win?

David Ord: If Ballydoyle were long odds-on to win the final Classic going into Goodwood, they're even shorter now. It's surely just a case of which cards they want to play, isn't it?

Scandinavia showed a great attitude to wear down Illinois and is now favourite but surely he and Lambourn won't both run? The latter is heading to York for the Sky Bet Great Voltigeur and that's the usual stepping stone to Doncaster for the lads but Camelot in 2012 was the last Derby winner they ran at Doncaster - and he was after a Triple Crown.

If they both turned up I'd still prefer Lambourn. If Scandinavia and Minnie Hauk turn up, I'd prefer Minnie Hauk. If Scandinavia and any of their others turn up, I prefer Scandinavia. That's all bases covered.

Matt Brocklebank: Throw us a bone here, Dave! No, you sum it up very nicely and what a position of strength to be in when it comes to the Ballydoyle team.

To be able to potentially run the winners of the Oaks and/or the Derby in the St Leger, with plenty of room for others to head for the Irish Champion, Champion Stakes, Arc and Breeders' Cup later on is quite remarkable, but I think Scandinavia might be the chosen one now and the market reflects that.

He may only have been the second, third or even fourth best horse at the weights in winning the Goodwood Cup but he's a youngster on an upward curve in the cheekpieces and he's going to take the world of beating over a mile and three-quarters back against his own age group.

Ben Linfoot: There's something about Scandinavia that troubles me and I'm not talking about the dubbed dramas on Netflix.

I can't put my finger on what it is. Maybe it's his very short price. Maybe it's that his stamina looks such a strong suit that if it was a small field on good ground I might be worried about him getting outpaced over 1m6f on Town Moor.

Maybe it's that he won't even run there as Dave thinks out loud above. Either way, you sense Aidan will win it if he wants to and for that reason it's a race that doesn't really appeal from an antepost point of view.

Scandinavia wins the Goodwood Cup

As the dust settles after that Sussex Stakes - what are your thoughts?

DO: Sadness at the injury sustained by Field Of Gold, bewilderment still at the victory of Qirat and conviction that if Rosallion turns up in the Sky Bet City Of York Stakes, he'll open his Group One account for the season.

The seven-furlong trip will suit him down to the ground and if he gets a good even gallop to aim at, he'll take the world of beating.

MB: My immediate thoughts were that there simply had to be something amiss with Field Of Gold and connections might be secretly relieved to have found the issue (lameness) following such a disappointing effort when all the world was waiting with bated breath.

It's hoped he can bounce back as this clearly goes down as a massive fluke with Qirat, who would be a big price again were the same horses to meet somewhere else deeper into the campaign. I couldn't really have him winning a QEII, for instance, but maybe the Breeders' Cup Mile might come onto the radar.

Like Dave, I felt for Richard Hannon and Sean Levey after Rosallion narrowly failed once again to add to his top-class tally from last year and you wonder whether the trainer might have to fight his jockey's corner a little given the owner's propensity to chop and change when results haven't quite gone his way in the past. And you could argue that Levey actually judged the unfolding situation slightly better than one or two other riders in the race.

BL: I think it's a shame that Field Of Gold wasn't able to run to his best but relieved a genuine excuse has emerged. It'll be interesting where he goes next but I can't wait to see him over 10 furlongs at some stage and hope the Gosdens can get him back on track quickly.

I think that we would be seeing Ryan Moore on Rosallion if Richard Hannon could find a mile Group 1 where Aidan doesn't have a runner - spoiler alert, he won't.

And I think Qirat was a ridiculous winner and still can't believe it. But I did back him for the Royal Hunt Cup at 12/1 when he finished 27th, so I would say that.

Qirat wins the Sussex Stakes at 150/1 under Richard Kingscote

Whirl won the Nassau – what autumn showpiece could she land?

DO: I love her. I just wonder with Minnie Hauk booked for the Yorkshire Oaks whether they'll go Irish Champion with her near-neighbour. She's only had one go at a mile-and-a-half and got it well in the Oaks and maybe she could join Delacroix in the home team for that fixture?

Failing that it's the Vermeille and into the Arc. She's a player wherever she goes. She's talented, tough and absolutely thriving, a potent combination. Another wonderful advertisement for her trainer's skills in getting horses to progress further and further beyond what looked their obvious ceiling earlier in their careers too.

BL: There's so much to like about Whirl isn't there? Talented, brave, versatile, progressing and she's the type of filly that Aidan will squeeze the absolute maximum out of and I would be staggered if that's not more Group 1s.

She could win the Irish Champion or the Arc and act two in her private battle with Kalpana could be some spectacle. Hopefully they face off in Paris.

MB: Come on fellas, it was a farce of a Group 1! The horrible ground all but destroyed See The Fire's chances, and the rather one-sided flag start effectively killed off her and Bedtime Story from the race as they immediately had six lengths to find on a top-quality filly under Ryan Moore.

No, I didn't think we learnt much more about Whirl on that back of this performance as she was already proven on testing ground from last year as well.

There's clearly plenty to like about her and I appreciate her versatility in terms of distance, but to halve her in the betting (16/1 to 8/1) for the Arc on the back of this win left me feeling a little cold.

Ryan Moore and Whirl win the Nassau

Give us one other takeaway from Goodwood?

DO: Can I have two? First was quote of the week from Ralph Beckett when quizzed about Amo Racing removing four horses from his yard including unraced 4.6m Frankel filly Partying.

"Moving an unraced two-year-old is strange....but then Kia is a strange man."

But sometimes it's good when owners get their way. Take Lady Iman for example. She's a five furlong filly right now as she showed when shrugging off a penalty to win the Molecomb. Owner Roger O'Callaghan wants to go for the Nunthorpe, Ger Lyons isn't as keen. But Roger wins and she adds loads to that York Group One going in against the older sprinters.

BL: John Quinn is incredible at getting his sprinters to improve with racing and his Jm Jungle showed speed and guts to win the Group 2 King George Qatar Stakes, his first attempt at a Group race on his 37th start.

There is no standout star in the sprint division and this was a career-best from the son of Bungle Inthejungle, but we still don't know how good he is and he shouldn't be underestimated in the Nunthorpe as we know how much he loves York.

Runner-up She's Quality comes out of the race with a lot of credit, too, and there's nothing wrong with her attitude despite four consecutive seconds, and she will love the speed test on the Knavesmire, as well.

They were both available at around 14/1 for York in the aftermath of the King George Qatar Stakes, but they are both likely types for the race and I wouldn't be quick to dismiss the Goodwood form with the Knavesmire Group 1 in mind.

MB: "I wouldn't know the Nunthorpe if it bit me on the arse!" I too enjoyed hearing from a buoyant Ger Lyons after Lady Iman's success and she's definitely a welcome addition to York, where she could also be joined by fellow juvenile filly True Love. They'll probably be the two market leaders if making the final field.

Aside from that, I was touched by Alan King's tribute to Trueshan. Such a sad end to the horse's remarkable story.

King was really quite emotional as you can imagine and I think it needs stressing that this was a completely unforeseen accident as I saw some terrible takes in the immediate aftermath of the race, particularly on social media.

He's the sort of horse that Hollie Doyle will clearly never forget and that weight-carrying effort in the 2022 Northumberland Plate, when conceding the more than useful runner-up Spirit Mixer two stone, don't forget, is right up there when it comes to Flat handicap performances in recent times.