Handicappers' view of Glorious Goodwood

The BHA handicappers have given their assessment of last month's Glorious Goodwood festival.

Their thoughts can be found here: http://www.britishhorseracing.com/gosdens-goodwood/

Some of the comments are below:

QIPCO Sussex Stakes

"Whilst Kingman was undoubtedly the star of the show in asserting his superiority over Toronado in the QIPCO Sussex Stakes the slow gallop and subsequent bunched finish prevented the star milers from running close to their lofty pre-race marks." 


Nassau Stakes

"The race itself was rather difficult to get a handle on. Firstly, there was quite a spread of opinion from the International Handicappers on the runner-up Narniyn’s level of ability for all she was rated 112 at home in France, and then Venus de Milo compounded matters by failing to run her race."


Lennox Stakes

"The 7f Group 2 Bet365 Lennox Stakes on Tuesday was a slowly-run affair and this played into the hands of Es Que Love who had been showing plenty of foot in 6f Group races this season.

I have Es Que Love running to 113, which is higher than Garswood (111) last year and Chachamaidee (112) in 2012, but some way below Finjaan (117) in 2009. This is a career high and despite having plenty of miles on the clock he seems on an upward curve since joining Clive Cox this year."


Artemis Goodwood Cup

"To the Group 2 Artemis Goodwood Cup and it was nice to see Cavalryman register another success, not least because he was the highest rated on BHA figures. It was a good race for Godolphin too, with Ahzeemah completing a one-two for the organisation and trainer Saeed bin Suroor."

British champions series: fantasy racing 2014

We managed to find the winner of all three of the BCS races at the Glorious Goodwood festival last week but unfortunately they were split over our two stables, so neither stable made giant strides up the leaderboard. Nevertheless, one stable has now accumulated more than 1,750 points and sits in around 4,500th place.

This stable earned more than 100 points from the Nassau Stakes on Saturday by selecting Sultanina (11/2) and Narniyn (7/4). Earlier in the week it also earned 62 points from the QIPCO Sussex Stakes, won by the impressive Kingman and over 50 points in the Artemis Goodwood Cup mainly thanks to Richard Kingscote riding Brown Panther (11/4) into third place.

Our other stable had its best result in the Goodwood Cup earning almost 140 points through a combination of Cavalryman (5/1), Ahzeemah (12/1) and Richard Fahey.

We really need to use our trainer and jockey changes wisely to get more points from them in the remaining races.

Race Day Betting: Qipco 2000 Guineas

Kingman remains solid at the head of the betting for the 2014 Qipco 2000 Guineas. The favourite had been as big as 2/1 with William Hill but has shortened again to 7/4 (which was the overnight price).

War Command has come in to 7/1 from 8/1 and overtakes Toormore in the market (8/1 from 13/2).

The selection is for Richard Hannon's Toormore (each way at 8/1; 1/4 odds first 3).

Writing on his website, the trainer said: "The Craven definitely knocked the rust off Toormore, and he will be a lot sharper this time. He will never be as spectacular as Canford Cliffs or Toronado, but he is a very good galloper with no complications, and the Rowley Mile brings out the best in him."

Racing Preview: Qipco 2000 Guineas

The Qipco 2000 Guineas is the first Classic race in the British Flat season. It is run in early May over a distance of a mile (8 furlongs) at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile course. The race is open to three-year olds, both colts and fillies. The race title is derived from the approximate value of all the entry fees for the first running of the race.

The race has been won by the favourite for the last three years and John Gosden will try to continue that trend with his unbeaten colt Kingman (7/4f).

2000 Guineas: Leading Contenders

Kingman: three wins from three runs, including two Group 3 victories in the Solario Stakes last season and a good win in the Greenham Stakes at Newbury in April. The Greenham victory was impressive and the colt showed the ability to quicken and had good speed in the closing stages.

Australia: Sired by Galileo and trained by Aidan O’Brien. Not seen on the racetrack since last September when winning over 8 furlongs at Leopardstown. O'Brien has said he could be the best he has trained.

Toormore: Unbeaten after four races, including a course and distance win in the Craven Stakes last month. The highest rated horse in the race on official ratings

War Command: a second entry for Aidan O’Brien and the winner of the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes at the end of last season at Newmarket. Not seen since then and will be ridden by Ryan Moore.