Glorious Goodwood has most certainly lived up to its namesake. So far, it’s been everything and above what we could have hoped for. We have witnessed some spectacular individual performances as well as some mouth-watering finishes. Old favourite Lightening Spear finally gained that elusive Group One victory in the Sussex Stakes, Stradivarius cemented his position as Europe’s leading stayer while Dark Vision’s thundering late run to win the in Group Two Vintage Stakes ought to make him one of this season’s most exciting juveniles to date. It will be interesting to see how Mark Johnston’s unbeaten colt fares when stepped up to Group One company.
On the final day of the Glorious Meeting, we are going to sink our teeth into today’s feature, Unibet Stewards’ Cup. The six-furlong cavalry charge,as to be expected, is wide open. For the £250,000 contest, I have identified two value propositions who I believe represent excellent value at their current odds. They are Hugo Palmers’ top weight Gifted Master and the William Knight’s recent all-weather winner, Solar Flair.
The latter ran in blinder in this twelve months ago when beaten under three lengths behind Lancelot Du Lac. Although the Equiano gelding is more adept on an artificial surface, he has some strong turf form to his name. This afternoon, he competes off a 10lb lower mark than his all-weather one and off a turf racing of 92, he must enter calculations. I was gobsmacked to see him quoted as big as 25/1 yesterday afternoon and although he has been clipped in a few points since, there is still value to be had in his price. I suspect that today’s heritage handicap has been the plan for quite a while. As previously noted, he wasn’t beaten far in this last year and may well have finished closer had he not experienced traffic problems late on. That day, he was running off a mark of 103 whereas he competes off a much more manageable mark of 92 this afternoon. His claims are also boasted with the assistance of talented 5lb claimer William Cox.
Cox has been riding for several big-name trainers lately. Andrew Balding, Clive Cox and David Simcock are just a few and if he’s good enough for them, he’s good enough for me. The scorching hot weather has really dried out the ground over the Sussex track and today’s quick ground should further boast his chances. Most importantly, however, the horse is currently in a rich vein of form. He won a nice Class Two at Newcastle on his penultimate start which has subsequently worked out superbly well and since then, he ran a nice fourth in at Chelmsford. Overall, I feel that because the bulk of his best form is on the all-weather, he has been massively overlooked in the market. As he is so well-in at the weights, we could easily be looking back at this reflecting on Knight’s masterful race planning!!
My other selection, Gifted Master, is one that I have been keen on for some time. Despite having to shoulder the burden of top-weight, he is without doubt the class horse in the race. The Newmarket-based runner can be forgiven for his effort in the King’s Stand last time. To put it mildly, the minimum trip doesn’t see him to best effect and while he is a highly useful sort, he is a notch or two below Group One level. This will be much more in his comfort zone and while it’s a tough ask for a horse to land the spoils under top-weight in such a fiercely competitive handicap, he might just have the class to prevail.
After all he is a dual Group 3 winner who has already shrugged off top-weight in handicap company this season when winning a Class Two at Newmarket on Guineas Weekend. As described by his trainer, he is a horse who ‘wears his heart on his sleeve’ and will be perfectly suited by the drying conditions. Jason Watson 5lb claim is also a huge help. He has only visited the course once previously and that came with a strong third-place finish in the Lennox Stakes two years’ ago. Hopefully, he can perform to a similar level this afternoon and with conditions very much in his favour, I expect he will.
Goodwood 3.40 PM
1/2 Point Each Way Gifted Master (14/1 Generally, look for 6 places)
1/2 Point Each Way Solar Flair (20/1 Generally, look for 6 places )
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