Glorious Goodwood. Day Three – CopyBet
Thursday sees Day Three of the Qatar Goodwood Festival takes place on the Sussex Downs.
There are eight races from the West Sussex track, kicking off at 13:20 and finishing at 17:30, with the highlights being the Group 3 Gordon Stakes, the Group 2 Richmond Stakes and the headliner Nassau Stakes.
Havana Hurricane – Goodwood
A course winner on debut, Havana Hurricane has been as consistent as they come, never finishing outside the first two home in his four runs so far.
Narrowly beaten on his second run, he dropped back down to five furlongs next time out and showed what he is capable of with a highly impressive win in the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot.
He showed he has serious pace, going through the gears superbly in the final two furlongs to lead in the final half furlong and keeping that pace up through the line.
He was, again, narrowly beaten last time out at Newbury in the Super Sprint, but the signs are there that this son of Havana Gold is a classy type who has all the attributes to keep winning races like these.
The big question here is will he be able to do it over six furlongs in Group company? But he is still developing and his only attempt over six furlongs came on his second run, so he will have come on since then and he is likely to go well here.
Bedtime Story – Goodwood
After a highly successful juvenile campaign Bedtime Story has yet to convert that success into a win at the top level.
A winner in her first four career races, a Group 1 success has so far been elusive in four attempts, however, she showed improvement when upped in trip last time out in the Group 1 Prix de Diane at Chantilly last month.
Having to overcome a wide draw she had to go for the finish line a bit earlier then the rest of the field, but she kept on well and was only just held by the winner, who did not have to go for the line quite so early.
It was an impressive performance which suggests she should be well up for this. However Ryan Moore prefers her stable mate Whirl, which could be considered a negative, but she looks to have a better draw this time round and could surprise a few here.
Windlord – Goodwood
Windlord had been used for pacemaking purposes early this season, but showed what he can do last time out with a hard-fought win last time out in the Listed Gala Stakes at Sandown three weeks ago.
Used to help Field Of Gold along in two Group 1’s over a mile he was stepped back up to 10 furlongs last time out and showed that he is more than just a pacemaker with a win. They went at a strong pace throughout and he dug deep to take the lead in the final few strides.
He will have to be at his best for this, but it was an impressive performance from him last time out and one which stands him in good stead for this step up in class.