Get set for Stradivarius: stayer stars as Gosden and Dettori roll into Goodwood

The setting may change, but the Flat season's driving narrative does not. Day one at a hopefully Glorious Goodwood brings us the latest chapter in John Gosden and Frankie Dettori's book of big-race belters.

Last Saturday will live long in the memory of racing aficionados and casual fans alike. Enable and Crystal Ocean's battle for supremacy in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot is a race that will rightly be remembered as one of the greatest duels in the sport's history.

But racing, like all sport, never stands still. So while the play button on the replay of Enable's stirring success will take a hammering in the coming days, attention now shifts to Goodwood for the next instalment of live Group 1 action.

The Qatar Goodwood Cup is Tuesday's main event and super stayer Stradivarius is the latest Gosden-trained, Dettori-ridden star they all have to beat.

A five-year-old with a lengthy winning run, it is not hard to draw comparisons between Stradivarius and stablemate Enable. Stradivarius is chasing an unprecedented hat-trick of Goodwood Cups and is odds-on to keep the Gosden/Dettori bandwagon rolling.

The trainer and jockey's summer of love is still in full swing with Gosden sending out seven Group 1 winners in 2019, all ridden by Dettori, who has supplemented that magnificent seven with a further brace of top-flight successes.

Few would bet against another knockout blow from Flat racing's heavyweight pairing, but there are some notable counter punchers in opposition.

Weight may be on the side of the three-year-olds but it would be foolish to dismiss the older horses, with Cross Counter and Dee Ex Bee delivering some big performances at the track.

On Racing Post Ratings, Cross Counter produced his career-high at this meeting 12 months ago in the Gordon Stakes.

He won by four and a half lengths on that day, beating Dee Ex Bee in the process, before going on to win the Melbourne Cup in November.

Although bested on that occasion, Dee Ex Bee is also fully effective at the track, having made a winning start at this fixture in 2017.

Wells Farhh Go is stepping up to two miles for the first time, and while his stamina will be thoroughly tested, he is an intriguing wildcard.

The Tim Easterby-trained four-year-old looked as good as ever when returning from nearly a year off at Newmarket's July meeting, and slower ground should also be in his favour.

Stradivarius may be favourite but Tuesday's Goodwood Cup could provide us with another stunning spectacle as the champion bids to stay on top.

Take lessons from previous festival heroes at Galway

You need endurance to get through the seven days at Galway and, with the party having got underway just yesterday, punters won't be dipping into their reserves just yet.

One horse whose stamina is assured around here is Baraweez. The Brian Ellison-trained nine-year-old will be running at the Galway festival for the sixth season in succession when he tackles the feature Colm Quinn BMW Mile Handicap but be warned as he rarely plays his hand until later in the week.

Despite the fact Baraweez has hit the frame in this €120,000 handicap twice in the past five years, he often uses this contest as a dress rehearsal for Sunday's 'Ahonoora' Handicap, a race he won in 2014 and 2015.

You won't see Baraweez falling around Eyre Square in the early hours as he knows better than most that you can't rock up to Ballybrit all guns blazing and expect to see Sunday.

Last year Riven Light, a player in Thursday’s Guinness Galway Hurdle, returned from a long absence when winning this feature for a second season on the trot off top weight and from an unwanted outside draw in 18.

A quick scan through the list of recent winners of this helter-skelter contest will reveal an outside draw isn’t as detrimental as trainers and riders will try and make you believe.

Including Riven Light, there have been four winners since 2010 who have broken from a double-figure draw.

We’ve grown up to believe that an outside draw at Galway is as good as the kiss of death and that you can’t beat youth but Bawareez and Riven Light buck the trend.

Therein lies the beauty of Galway. The unpredictable nature of this tight and turning racecourse, the characters, equine and human, endear it to the public. Roll on another memorable contest.
Brian Sheerin

A weighty issue

Dee Ex Bee and Cross Counter will attempt to turn around the Gold Cup form from Royal Ascot, having finished second and fourth to Stradivarius last month.

But while the Gold Cup is for older horses, the Goodwood Cup has the extra wrinkle of adding the Classic generation of stayers to the mix.

Stradivarius took advantage of the three-year-old weight allowance in 2017 when defeating Big Orange, and last year there were no three-year-olds in opposition when he successfully defended his crown.

That will not be the case on Tuesday, when a trio of younger horses - led by Queen's Vase winner Dashing Willoughby - will attempt to derail his second Weatherbys Hamilton Stayers' Million bid.

While the older horses will carry 9st 9lb, Dashing Willoughby and the Aidan O'Brien duo of Harpo Marx and South Pacific receive in excess of a stone, which should make traversing two miles of the South Downs a less arduous task.

Queen's Vase winner Dashing Willoughby lines up in the Goodwood Cup on TuesdayCredit: Bryn Lennon

The racing calendar is also on the side of the three-year-olds this year. Had the Goodwood Cup fallen in August – as it sometimes has in the past – the younger brigade would have received 2lb less from their senior opponents.

The weight-for-age scale changes on a monthly basis, and while Stradivarius received 13lb from Big Orange in 2017, Tuesday's young pretenders will be racing off 8st 8lb, a 15lb swing.

More Dettori damage?

With his sustained spree of big-race glory, Frankie Dettori-ridden horses are the first stop on the card for many a punter's roving eye.

The Gold Cup triumph at Royal Ascot aboard Stradivarius was the concluding leg of a four-timer that left bookmakers fearing massive payouts. Some firms subsequently restricted Dettori-based multiples, and the Italian's tantalising book of rides on Tuesday could turn into a disaster on the Downs for layers.

Along with Stradivarius, Dettori also rides Visinari in the Group 2 Qatar Vintage Stakes, and Hey Gaman in the Qatar Lennox Stakes.

All three hold obvious claims and should the trio triumph, expect some chaos in the betting ring, with Cobra Eye and Savaanah completing the jockey's engagements.

Frankie Dettori does his famous flying dismount after winning the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and completing a four-timer on the dayCredit: Edward Whitaker

Armchair guide in Britain

1.50 Goodwood
Unibet Handicap, 1m2f
The opening act of this year's Glorious Goodwood is a competitive handicap with Plutonian, second 12 months ago, bidding to go one better.

2.25 Goodwood
Group 2 Qatar Vintage Stakes, 7f
Chesham winner Pinatubo heads a strong field, with Mystery Power and Visinari among the opposition for what could be one of the strongest juvenile races so far this season.

3.00 Goodwood
Group 2 Qatar Lennox Stakes, 7f
Sir Dancealot and Breton Rock, the last two winners of the race, are back for more. But Zaaki, who narrowly lost out to Beat The Bank at Ascot last time, heads the betting.

3.35 Goodwood
Group 1 Qatar Goodwood Cup Stakes, 2m
A stellar group of stayers are set to square off, with Stradivarius attempting to become the first horse to ever win the race three years in a row.

Armchair guide in Ireland

5.20 Galway
Listed COLM QUINN BMW Novice Hurdle, 2m½f
Willie Mullins has won three of the last four runnings of this race, and has a good chance to add another this year with Fast Buck, who was an easy winner last time out at Listowel.

5.55 Galway
Latin Quarter Beginners Chase, 2m2f
Last year Emmet Mullins sent out the winner with St Stephens Green, and he could repeat the dose courtesy of Zero Ten, who developed into a smart hurdler and now makes his first start over fences.

6.25 Galway
COLM QUINN BMW Irish EBF Fillies Maiden, 7f
Will we have another Guineas heroine in attendance? Hermosa won this last year before going on to dual Classic glory this season.

7.05 Galway
Caulfield Industrial Irish EBF Maiden, 7f
Dermot Weld and Pat Smullen won this race five times between 2009 and 2016. Smullen may now be retired but Weld is still in business, and his Tranchee could be the answer.

7.40 Galway
COLM QUINN BMW Mile Handicap, 1m½f
The most valuable race on the card has attracted a competitive field of 18. Declan McDonogh has been the winning rider twice in the last three years, and this time partners Aussie Valentine for Ado McGuinness.

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