Glorious Goodwood Day 2 Preview

Day 2 of this prestigious meeting gives us a mouthwatering third clash between Dawn Approach and Toronado in the Sussex Stakes, with Declaration Of War throwing a slight curveball into the mix.
In this preview, I will look at three races in detail, with the hope of finding some good value and a few winners.

1.55 - Goodwood Stakes - 2m5f (20 run)

Hopefully David will be smiling again at Goodwood

This race is tough to get a grip on because there are no stalls and a lot of horses will have stamina concerns as they are running over this trip for the first time. I was lucky enough to be at this day last year to see Frankel, but I did back Hurricane Higgins, who won this race last year so I'm hoping for a repeat. There are a few horses at decent prices on my shortlist, such as top weight Gassin Golf, who has done very well since joining Richard Lee to go hurdling over the winter, finishing a close second at Punchestown a few months ago. Cloudy Spirit and Sohar both ran very well in the Queen Alexandra at Royal Ascot, so would be interesting with a repeat of those runs. Lieutenant Miller also ran well at the Royal meeting and when champion jumps trainer Nicky Henderson has runners on the Flat, they also deserve a second look.
Kazbow has improved leaps and bounds since joining Richard Ford, and could run well, but I think Beyond is the one here. He is ridden by top apprentice Thomas Brown and trained by David Pipe, and ran well in this race last year, where he went off too fast under Willy Twiston Davies and ended up finishing fourth. He is a few pounds higher this time, but arrives on the back of a confidence boosting win at Salisbury under today's rider, so could be value at around 12/1 at the time of writing.

3.05 - Sussex Stakes - 1m (7 run)

Will Hughesie be smiling after the Duel on the Downs - Part II?

What a belter this is going to be! Dawn Approach is the favourite and rightly so after winning the Guineas in devastating fashion, before that infamous Derby disaster, and then in the style of Rocky Balboa, coming roaring back from off the ropes in the St James' Palace Stakes to win a titanic battle with Toronado. Toronado is back again to try and reverse that form at what is considered Richard Hughes and Richard Hannon's "home turf", and to be honest, that must be the pivotal factor here, in particular with Richard Hughes. Kevin Manning, the rider of Dawn Approach has had very few rides on the Downs over the years, just the five rides with one winner, Alexander Goldrun in the 2005 Nassau. Also more intriguingly, his last Goodwood ride was on Evens favourie Lush Lashes in the 2008 Nassau, who repeatedly got blocked up and was beaten by Halfway To Heaven. There are a few similarities, the short priced favourite who couldn't get any sort of run. Dawn Approach will have to pick through two pacemakers and that won't be easy at the business end of the race. There is noone better around Goodwood than Richard Hughes and for that reason I think Toronado will win this. Declaration of War is a threat, but I'm not sure he's quite as good as the other two. Trade Storm needs quick ground to show his best, and Gregorian is only a Group 3 horse for me.

5.25 - Harwoods Racing Club Handicap (7f - 20 run)

Nenge Mboko is in great form at present

This handicap looks very open indeed. I like a couple quite strongly, the first of which is Good Authority, who handles this track particularly well and has a handy weight pull with Askaud from Leicester last time out. He is also drawn well and could easily go very close at a good price. Spirit Of Sharjah could also get competitive for Frankie Dettori and Julia Feilden, especially off his current mark. Johnny Castle is trained by Amanda Perrett, daughter of Guy Harwood who's racing club sponser this race, and should be in there pitching at the business end with the draw a big help (drawn 1). The one I fancy most however is Nenge Mboko for George Baker. He has won his last three races and is really thriving at the moment. The thing I like about him is his turn of foot, and the visor which he has won in on all his three starts lately have certainly sharpened that finishing kick for sure. He has a decent draw and gets a juicy three year old allowance as well.

In summary:
2pts E/W Beyond 1.55 Goodwood
2pts WIN Toronado 3.05 Goodwood
2pts E/W Nenge Mboko 5.25 Goodwood
1pt E/W Good Authority 5.25 Goodwood

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Best of luck,
Will.