Glorious Goodwood Day 3 Tips

Glorious Goodwood reaches the halfway stage on Thursday with an unmissable card that centres around the Group 1 Nassau Stakes. In anticipation of a top day’s racing, our Racing Editor has produced previews and selections for all SEVEN races on day three of the meeting. Check this out below, alongside an exclusive Paddy Power offer, which provides £40 in Free Bets when you place a £10 bet on horse racing.

ASAASSI – (1:50 Goodwood, Coral Kincsem Handicap) 7/1

Vee Sight looked like a horse well ahead of his mark when scoring at Sandown on handicap/seasonal debut and this extra furlong will suit him.

He looks sure to put up a bold showing, but ASAASSI has the potential to be a fair bit better than a handicapper judged on both pedigree and his form this season, and he’s marginally favoured to land the spoils.

From a fine French family that includes the triple Group 1 winner Esoterique, Asaassi showed promise in a pair of 1m Kempton novice/maiden contests over the winter, and he’s stepped forward for the switch to turf and application of wind surgery this season, winning both outings.

Asaassi built on a Salisbury maiden success (where he raced very freely throughout) to justify favouritism on his handicap debut at York last time out. On neither occasion did Asaassi look anything near the finished article, but given how powerfully he travelled through his races there seems a strong possibility that he’s going to appreciate running in a better race at a stronger pace.

Stall 1 will hopefully negate any potential traffic issues and a mark of 90 looks well within his capabilities, so he looks a good play in the Thursday opener.

ROYAL SCOTSMAN – (2:25 Goodwood, Richmond Stakes) 6/4

A good renewal of the Richmond Stakes here and the top two in the market are certainly the ones to focus on. Chateau finished fourth in a strong Windsor Castle Stakes last month and overcame trouble in running to take a Listed prize at Newbury just under a fortnight ago.

He’s highly thought of by connections but might just be bumping into one here in the Coventry third ROYAL SCOTSMAN.

This Gleneagles colt has taken a big step forward in all three starts this season, backing up his course and distance demolition (form franked) when third at Royal Ascot.

He can arguably have that Coventry run upgraded slightly as he may have hit the front a little too soon, and it has since turned out to be a classy renewal of that race, with Royal Scotsman splitting a pair of subsequent Group 2 winners.

His connections love winners at this meeting, so there’s every chance that he’s been targeted at this prize from a fair way out, which may be a comment that doesn’t apply to his main market rival (Gimcrack mentioned after his Newbury win).

Goodwood Racecourse
Goodwood
Chichester
West Sussex
PO18 0PS
United Kingdom

Goodwood Racecourse

One of the most popular tracks in the country, Goodwood hosts numerous top-class races during the summer. The summer fixture, known as Glorious Goodwood, features five days of top-class action including the Group 1 Sussex Stakes amongst a clutch of pattern races and top-quality handicaps. The track is undulating and favours horses that race close to the pace, particularly on the round course as the field are racing around a gradual bend for much of the contest.

WEST WIND BLOWS – (3:00 Goodwood, John Pearce Racing Gordon Stakes) 6/1

The best bet on the third day of Glorious Goodwood comes in the Group 3 Gordon Stakes, where WEST WIND BLOWS can go in for training partnership Simon & Ed Crisford and jockey James Doyle.

This colt has won all three starts aside from an Epsom Derby ninth, where he just appeared to do too much too soon chasing a strong pace set by Changingoftheguard (since a Group 2 winner) and may have simply found it coming too soon at that stage of his career.

It’s worth forgiving that showing and West Wind Blows himself showed it to be all wrong when bolting up in the Listed Glasgow Stakes at Hamilton earlier this month.

It looked like a good renewal of that contest, despite the small field, yet West Wind Blows laughed at his rivals with a relentless front-running performance, and his RPR of 113 recorded is the highest of any winner in the last ten renewals of that race, a list that includes future Group 1 winners Postponed, Defoe and Subjectivist.

It is obviously a little concerning to see fellow confirmed front-runner Al Qareem in this lineup, yet West Wind Blows showed that he didn’t have to blast off from the front when smuggled into a Newcastle novice on debut, and he’s got a top rider aboard in James Doyle who’ll know exactly the fractions to set/chase.

New London rates the biggest danger to the selection, but he disappointed the last time he was upped to this level and might be a horse who wants a long home straight to provide more time to develop his challenge.

DREAMLOPER – (3:35 Goodwood, Qatar Nassau Stakes) 7/1

All eyes are likely to be on Nashwa here, who aims to supplement her Prix de Diane success. Whilst 1m2f is almost certainly her trip, however, she was all out to score at Chantilly and this represents a significant step up taking on her elders, so at the prohibitive prices, she can be taken on.

3yos have historically dominated in this event, yet two of the last three renewals have gone to 5yos, and that emerging trend can continue here with DREAMLOPER.

Ed Walker’s mare took the Group 2 Dahlia Stakes on seasonal reappearance, after which the Nassau was nominated as her main target this season.

The Nassau was once again at the forefront of connections minds after Dreamloper claimed Group 1 honours in the Prix d’Ispahan at Longchamp in May, and whilst the hat-trick was thwarted after she finished down the field in the Pretty Polly last month, there were legitimate excuses for that as Dreamloper raced keenly, was a little short of room on the turn for home, and wouldn’t have been in love with the deteriorating ground conditions.

If Dreamloper hadn’t run at the Curragh it’s not inconceivable to think that she’d be half the price for this assignment, and as it has been a race mentioned all season expect her to have been trained to the minute for it. Jockey Kieran Shoemark has good memories of this having taken last year’s renewal with Lady Bowthorpe, and it’s a little puzzling to see Dreamloper freely available at an each-way price here given that she’s the highest-rated in this field and arguably brings the strongest form into it courtesy of her Prix d’Ispahan win.

FAR SHOT – (4:10 Goodwood, Jaeger-Lecoultre Nursery Handicap) 8/1

Not an easy race to assess with such little form to go on, and anything the Johnston or Hannon stable run has to be respected given that they’ve landed six of the last nine renewals between them.

It is notable that FAR SHOT runs here, however, given that he’s the Gosden’s only juvenile entered at Glorious Goodwood.

This £160,000 breeze-up buy looked anything but all out to take a Yarmouth maiden on debut, and he was thrown in at the deep end in the Windsor Castle Stakes just a week later, finding everything happening too soon.

Far Shot performed far better dropped in class and upped in trip in an Ascot nursery last time, looking a little unfortunate not to see off the more experienced Blatant, finishing with a strong rattle having been short of room at a crucial stage. On that basis, going up even further to 7f shouldn’t inconvenience Far Shot and although he’s up 4lb you expect the best is very much still to come from this colt.

SIR HENRY COTTON – (4:45 Goodwood, World Pool Handicap) 15/2

Get Ahead has performed better than the bare result on more than one occasion this season, including in a valuable Ascot handicap last time, travelling powerfully into her race before having to be snatched up when a gap closed a furlong out.

She’s back against her own age group here, but it’s a surprise to see her head the betting given her only win from seven starts came on debut last May, and at double the price, preference instead goes to SIR HENRY COTTON.

Andrew Balding’s charge carried a good spell on the all-weather onto the turf with a neck second over this course and distance back in April, and he’s won two of his next four starts, including under this rider at Lingfield last month.

Sir Henry Cotton was only a half-length behind Swayze (who only ran him down very late) at Haydock earlier this month, he’s up 3lb for that, but this track poses no concerns, neither the faster ground, so if he can be held onto for a little longer here it may instead be him picking up the pieces late on.

Bangor-on-Dee

Hurdle Turf

6 races

Newcastle

Hurdle Turf

7 races

Limerick

Hurdle Turf

7 races

Wolverhampton (AW)

Flat AW

7 races

LUCKIN BREW – (5:20 Goodwood, Tatler EBF Maiden Fillies’ Stakes) 10/3

There’s no doubt that Zarga was an eyecatcher at Kempton on debut, and given her connections, this meeting was always likely to be on the agenda afterwards.

The bare form of that Kempton race doesn’t look as strong as the one that LUCKIN BREW participated in at Newmarket, however, and it is instead Ralph Beckett’s filly that gets the nod.

Running in the famous Tabor silks, Luckin Brew is from a family that Beckett knows well being a half-sister to the stable’s former Group 3 winner Antonia De Vega. She wasn’t unfancied for her aforementioned Newmarket debut run (the same race her half-sister took on debut in 2018) and stayed on nicely for second.

Luckin Brew was upsides the winner merely yards after the line and is entitled to have learnt plenty from that initial experience.

With Ryan Moore now taking over in the saddle, she rates the one to be with here.