By Tony Calvin - 28 July 2026
The numbers have died down somewhat in the ITV races on Wednesday; at least in the sole handicap on the main box, that is, with nine runners in the opening 1m4f contest (mind you, there was a maximum of just 14 here).
Elsewhere, the numbers range between a manageable nine and 14 in the other terrestrial conditions and Group contests.
Outside of the big race, this is a decidedly underwhelming card for a big meeting, let’s be honest.
There are a very healthy 12 in the Sussex Stakes, though Lake Forest and last year’s winner Qirat are also in the Lennox on Tuesday – so we will be waiting on Wednesday morning for their participation – and we have the usual Ballydoyle henchman (hopefully not plural) out in front.
I thought Saturday’s King George was an unedifying spectacle with Action going like the clappers from a long way out (he did remarkably well to finish sixth and I’d love to know how good he could be with an optimum run-style, with similar comments applying to the dual 2025 Derby winner Lambourn, a cracking fourth).
Of course, they can do what they want with their horses as long as no rules are being broken, but I personally think they are treating Classic winners and high-class horses, and maybe the sport, with a touch of disrespect, just as they did with a soured St Leger winner Continuous.
It’s an increasingly poor look from a great outfit.
In my opinion.
Blue Hercules is a NR, so we are down to eight.
Just the nine runners but a competitive 1m4f handicap, as you’d hope and expect for this 75k 0-105 handicap at a big meeting – the maximum field was 14 – and I’d be inclined to give Tierra Del Toro another chance at 9s and 8s.
Wathnan Racing bought the first three horses home in the 1m2f London Gold Cup, and he shaped well in that race to finish a staying-on third. That handicap may not have had the depth of previous years but the winner Lost Boys is now 14lb higher after winning subsequently.
It all went wrong for Tierra Del Toro pretty quickly in the 1m4f King George V Stakes at Royal Ascot, as he was pushed forward from stall 10 and that lit him up, and he never really settled thereafter.
In the circumstances, he ran okay to finish ninth, beaten under 7 lengths, though the handicapper clearly thought so too as he didn’t even drop him 1lb for that.
Hopefully, he will be more tractable here – they don’t have to rush him up early doors in this smaller field – and he will see out this 1m4f trip well enough to be very competitive.
But, once again, this is a very small win-only bet for me, and I’ll have to make do with 8s , as the 9s and [17/2] is not accessible for me (woe is me).
Hatteen was very fairly treated by the handicapper after his wide-margin Doncaster novice win last time, so I very much agree with the betting – he is [11/4] best and that may be coming under pressure – that he is the one to beat off a mark of 88.
Hatteen has been cut into [9/4], having been [7/2] and [10/3] in places yesterday and Bay Royale is into [13/2], having been 11s and 10s with one outfit yesterday morning.
Moves for little money though, and there are plenty more legs in this market.
Thankfully, the 2yo races have held up much better on Wednesday and Thursday , and we have nine for this Class 2 conditions’ race.
Wild Blossom is [7/4] favourite to bounce back from an underwhelming effort in the Queen Mary. That said, people probably went overboard about her wide-margin debut Carlisle win given the time was very ordinary and the bare form of that Royal Ascot run (when she was drawn low) just about makes her the one to beat form-wise and on the clock.
Owners Wathnan Racing are also responsible for the [4/1] second favourite in here with Albany fifth Hidden Gift.
Miss Lizzy is possibly being ignored a touch at 10s on the overall balance of her form but Fast Track has to be respected at 7s, and that looks a very fair price (available in four places as this goes live).
Fast Track was only just collared by a certain Senorita Bonita at Nottingham in early June and she got on the scoreboard at Beverley last time after a fair midfield effort in the Queen Mary at 50s.
Now, that was a victory at 10s-on, so I imagine any of this field could have done what she did there, but it is perhaps interesting that she wore a first-time tongue-tie there, which is retained here.
There is plenty of pace in here on paper, so Oisin Murphy will have to play it by ear as to what he does (his filly has led in two of her four starts), and I hear trainer Andrew Balding is in decent form.
I have had a small each-way bet at 7s.
Wild Blossom has been clipped into [6/4] and Fast Track is 5s from 7s. Zizazig Ah is 7s from 10s.
This illustrates a worrying trend on morning markets – plenty of horses being cut, and few being lengthened.
Handle these moves with care. That said. the above best prices are tight against the current exchange odds.
Queen’s Reign is a NR.
I suspect I’ll be keeping my powder dry in this now 13-runner 7f fillies and mares’ Group 3.
Richard Hughes loves Goodwood and he enters the meeting having caught a bit of form (his last four runners have finished 2112) and apparently he is very bullish on the chances of Sayidah Dariyan, who is the early [7/2] joint-favourite alongside Flora Of Bermuda, with his mate Ryan Moore booked.
Unfortunately, I’d agree that those two are very much the ones to beat despite an obvious doubt.
A 3lb penalty for Flora Of Bermuda makes it tougher for her to follow up her York win last time and she tries 7f for the first time here, but she is the best horse in the race at these weights, along with the 3yo Zanthos (a big player on her 2yo form but a bit player on her 3yo exploits), and I quite like the angle of her stepping up in trip.
In fact, Saridah Dariyan also races over 7f for the first time, too – so maybe bookmakers may sense a result – but her run-style suggests she could improve for it.
I’ll almost certainly leave this race alone – but maybe a reverse forecast is called for….
If you think the joint-favourites may struggle to last home, then I suppose the lightly-raced and progressive Planet Seeker is the obvious each-way alternative at 7s.
But it looks between the jollies to me.
No real movement with the joint-favourites but the main each-way angle against them , Planet Seeker, is into a general 11/2 from 7s. And maybe set to shorten further.
One of the pace angles, Radiant Beauty, is a bigger mover. 16s yesterday and 14s with one firm at the start of Wednesday , she is into a general 8s.
You have to love rapido 2yos flying down the straight in the Molecomb on quick ground, and we have a good field of 11 for it.
It’s a wide-open race according to the betting too, with four horses priced up between 4s and 7s at the best available odds.
I don’t have a strong betting opinion at all but I can see why Pershaada is a 4s chance, as she has a course victory to her name – as does Undercover Affair, those pair being the only ones with track experience – and she ran a cracker when fourth in the Queen Mary, with main market rival Crownbreaker 3/4 length away in fifth.
I’d have her as the clear favourite but 4s is marginal and it’s another no-bet race for me.
Mind you, one firm are [4/1], four places, on Pershaada and no way would I lay that. If you can access it, it’s a great bet.
Pershaada is currently winning the battle for favouritism, into 3s from 4s.
Sale Shark, as big as 16s when the markets opened on Monday noon-ish, is into 11/2. He started Wednesday at 8s.
From a news perspective, the Sussex Stakes is manna from heaven for journalists who want to go there.
The BHA yesterday gave their written reasons for giving Christophe Soumillon a five-day ban for his riding of Puerto Rico in the St James’s Palace Stakes, won by a short-head by Bow Echo from Gstaad.
All three horses re-oppose here and the news angle is what Soumillon does on Puerto Rico once again.
This time he may leave any pace/tactics controversy to Aidan O’Brien’s Dorset, who looks sure to be the sacrificial lamb on the front end, though this race does not lack for pace with Opera Ballo and Seagulls Eleven in the line-up and maybe last year’s winner Qirat, too (a decision will presumably be made on Lennox runners Qirat and Lake Forest on Wednesday morning, if not before).
I bet the Flutter mob regret offering 40s about Lake Forest on Monday now (when it was obviously NRNB, too).
If they laid it…
You don’t need me to tell you that the market revolves around Bow Echo, Gstaad and Opera Ballo – around 90pc of it – but I can’t help feeling Puerto Rico is hugely overpriced at 50s, fixed odds, and even bigger win-only on Betfair in the very formative stages of that market – IF he is allowed to his run his own race.
IF, the most expensive word in betting, but remember he was the only other O’Brien horse at Ascot (when he was a massive drifter and went off at a Betfair SP of 21.0) and that isn’t the case here.
A dual Group 1 winner at two, you can obviously put a line through the Ascot run and he didn’t run at all badly when fourth in the French Guineas on his return. He wasn’t beaten far (1 1/2 lengths) and did not get much racing room in the closing stages, so probably should have finished closer (I didn’t see the head-on, though).
You could argue that he wants a lot more dig than this – other than Ascot last time, the only occasion that Timeform have him running on good to firm ground was when he finished fourth of five in the Phoenix Stakes last August but he won the Champagne Stakes on good going – but Goodwood have watered heavily and may do so again on Tuesday evening (5mm put on).
As a 119-rated juvenile, beaten just 1 1/2 lengths in that Classic two starts ago, in May (when going off as the 9/10 favourite) and his subsequent Ascot run a write-off , his odds of [50/1] are simply huge.
Of course, the market is assuming he will sacrificed on the front end again and he may well be (he is currently 80.0 on the exchange…).
I am not so sure.
IF.
Bow Echo is top at 23/20 with AKBets -a catchy price…
Lake Forest has drifted out 22s (and 32.0 on Betfair) , having been 12s tops immediately after the Lennox.
Puerto Rico is out to 80s fixed-odds and I have gone in again. How stupid am I....(answer – almost certainly very)
Tierra Del Toro at 9s or 8s in 1.50pm (9s available) – very small bet
Fast Track each way at 7s in 2.25pm
Puerto Rico at 50s each way in 4.10pm (just gone in again at 80s on Wednesday morning)
Tuesday night update: ““We are going to put 5mm on the round course, to everything apart from the straight, just to replace what we have lost today. We will leave the straight alone”
GOING: Good to firm, good in places
Going Stick: 7.3, Wed 7.35am
34.3% soil moisture
WEDNESDAY COURSE UPDATE: 0.4mm rain Sunday. A dry & settled outlook 25-29C for the week. Current weather details from our weather station available here; https://bit.ly/2E6dYhB
WATERING: 10mm to the Straight Monday 15mm to the Round Course Tuesday 12mm to the Straight Wednesday 10mm to the Round Course Thursday 7.5mm to Straight on Friday 5mm to Round Course Saturday 8mm to the Straight Sunday 5mm Mile to 6f Monday; 5mm to the Round Course Tuesday Night
Weather forecast: Dry and sunny, 26-28 degrees
John Gallagher hood; Havana Pusey, 2.25pm; 0-28 (since 2015)
Adam Kirby blinkers; Bill The Bull, 3pm; 0-1 (2026)
1.50pm Goodwood: Infraad (drawn 3), Hatteen (6), Sea And Sun (8) – Blue Hercules is a NR
2.25pm Goodwood: Call Nikki (3), Envision (7), Fast Track (1), Hidden Gift (5), Princess d’Orange (8), Wild Blossom (2), Zigazig Ah (6)
3pm Goodwood: Radiant Beauty (1), Awaken (2), Isle Of Fernandez (10), Orion’s Belt (3), Zanthos (7) – Queen’s Reign is a NR
3.35pm Goodwood: Adonius (4), Bill The Bull (9), El Floridita (3), Hell Of A Spin (11), Ruler’s Pride (5), Undercover Affair (6), Pershaada (7)
4.10pm Goodwood: Dorset and Puerto Rico (presumed pacemakers – 6 and 10), Opera Ballo (3), Qirat (8), Seagulls Eleven (12)
Good or better: Andrew Balding (excellent), Ralph Beckett, Ed Walker (double on Monday), Charlie Appleby, Joseph O’Brien (excellent from such a big sample – 18/1 and 13-8 winners on Monday), James Owen (excellent from a huge sample, and among the winners again on Sunday and Monday), Karl Burke (flying along), Kevin Phillipart De Foy, George Boughey, David Evans, Adrian Keatley (small sample)
Fair: Richard Hannon, Richard Spencer (6-1 Goodwood winner on Tuesday), William Haggas (fair/good), David O’Meara, Ian Williams, Michael Bell, Simon and Ed Crisford, William Knight (fair/good), Muir and Grassick, Brian Meehan, Harry Eustace, Tim Easterby, Richard Hughes (13-2 and 4-7 winners on Monday), Charlie Fellowes, David Loughnane (fair/moderate), Rebecca Menzies (1 from 5), John Gallagher, Nigel Tinkler, Hugo Palmer, Eve Johnson Houghton, Aidan O’Brien
Moderate: Kevin Ryan, Charlie Johnston (7-2 winner on Monday), James Tate (7-2 winner on Monday), Archie Watson (16-1 winner on Tuesday, though), Adam Kirby, Richard and Peter Fahey
Don’t know: Diego Dias
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