Goodwood Placepot picks: Paul Kealy has a crack at the £250,000 guaranteed pool

Goodwood's opening 1m2f handicap (1.50) is seriously tough, so there will need to be some coverage for the Placepot.

Perfuse looks too short in the market, so my three are main fancy Royal Rhyme, Have Secret, and Baltic Voyage.

Have Secret ran a then big career best on his final start last season on soft ground and gets those conditions for the first time this term, having run a good fourth at Royal Ascot, while Baltic Voyage seemed to improve dramatically for soft ground last time.

I liked the way Sketch bounded clear in a Newbury novice last month, so he's the first selection in the Richmond (2.25). It's anyone's guess who will like the ground, though, and Vandeek, who has at least won with some cut when showing plenty on his Nottingham debut, is the other selection.

Espionage looks very much the right favourite for the Gordon (3.00), and given the way he seemed to relish bad ground as a juvenile (just touched off in Group 1 company), he should take all the beating, so he is banked on to at least be in the first two.

It will be quite a shock if one of Blue Rose Cen or Nashwa doesn't win the Nassau (3.35), but we only need one, and the French raider, who has so much soft-ground form, gets the nod.

It's easy enough to argue that Gray's Inn should be odds-on for the nursery (4.10) as she's a massive 17lb well in after finishing fourth in Listed company at Sandown last Thursday.

Things are not always that simple, though, so I'll add Phone Tag, who has shown plenty of promise and may appreciate a strong-run race in his first handicap.

That just leaves another difficult handicap (4.45) and I'm perfectly happy with the two I've backed in the race, Novus and Skysail.

Goodwood Placepot perm

1.50
4 Royal Rhyme
8 Have Secret
14 Baltic Voyage

2.25
8 Sketch
11 Vandeek

3.00
6 Espionage

3.35
4 Blue Rose Cen

4.10
11 Phone Tag
12 Gray's Inn

4.45
3 Skysail
7 Novus

3x2x1x1x2x2 = 24 lines

World Pool tip: Bobsleigh could slide under the radar

The World Pool has its last day of the week at Goodwood on Thursday and the value might lie with Bobsleigh in the Markel Richmond Stakes (2.25).

Eve Johnson Houghton and Charles Bishop won't be household names on the international scene and that might ensure Bobsleigh goes under the radar on the World Pool. However, he has the form to win the race having been beaten only three lengths behind River Tiber in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot.

He was below form in the Super Sprint at Newbury last time, but maybe the 5f trip caught him out and there is every chance he can bounce back now he is returned to further.
Graeme Rodway

World Pool win bet

Goodwood

2.25

4 Bobsleigh

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