Glorious Goodwood Betting / Graham Cunningham / 27 July 2009 / Leave a comment

Fasten your seat belts for the bumpiest five day ride of the racing calendar. Glorious Goodwood is five days and 35 races in which there will be heroes, villains and any number of potential hard luck stories. Racing UK analyst Graham Cunningham casts his eye over the main players on a day one card which features the Betfair Cup and the Betfair Gordon Stakes.

"To my mind there is a good chance that Monsieur Chevalier’s price will drift appreciably in running against a clutch of very speedy rivals."

2.10

Hats off to Noseda for keeping Dale Gibson aboard Royal Destination, but I'm keen to be against this Ayr winner from an 8lb higher mark. Irish raider Bravely Fought has lived up to his name with two recent wins but has much more on here, while the promise shown by Alfathaa over a mile at Ascot and Sandown is tempered by the concern that he might be ridden from a long way off the pace again.

Now to the more tempting options. It's a wide open handicap - and it wouldn't be wise to dive in too deeply - but Australia Day has thrived from the front at Sandown recently. His latest effort looks very solid form and, although a wide draw isn't ideal, he could still trade fairly short if he gets across to lead again.

Sweet Lightning and William Blake are the others worth considering in the win and place market. William Blake looked right back on song at Ascot last Friday and is an uncomplicated sort who looks bound to be up there from a long way out, while Sweet Lightning has caught the eye more than once in good handicaps this season and appeals as the sort to be suited by Goodwood.

2.45

Three subsequent St Leger winners have landed this in recent years and this renewal looks well up to scratch, with Harbinger and Masterofthehorse heading an absorbing field.

Harbinger was mighty impressive in a Chester maiden and returns from a break with a tall reputation to live up to. Can he do it? In short, this is his acid test and to my mind he falls firmly into the "don't back, don't lay category."

There are two ways of looking at Masterofthehorse. On one hand, he has much the best public form courtesy of his fine Derby third, but he endured a draining race in the Irish Derby and the fact that Coolmore have offloaded to a yard who are a measly 2-112 on turf in recent years is concerning. On balance, I'm wary of him.

Firebet steps up in class and distance after a romp through the handicap ranks, while Parthenon looked good before flopping in the Irish Derby and the $2.9m purchase Urban Poet produced a crushing performance against maidens on his Hamilton debut.

In summary, there are numerous potential back and lay angles here. Some might say it's too risky to consider laying Masterofthehorse at [5.0] or higher given his best form. But it's a risk I'll be giving serious consideration to on his debut for new connections.

3.25

Main Aim and J J The Jet Plane offer the best recent form after their fine efforts in the July Cup and in theory it ought to be close between them again.

However, Main Aim looks the safer option, as he caught a hefty bump late on at Newmarket and, unlike J J, he has already shown that seven furlongs suits him extremely well. He's thrived this season and fully deserves to head the market.

I'm lukewarm on Jersey Stakes winner Ouqba, who has done all his racing on straight tracks and took a fair while to find full stride at Royal Ascot. Finjaan is a proven Goodwood performer who looks tricky to assess given that his stable have endured a torrid time this season, but one horse who should pay to keep an eye on at a biggish price is Asset.

Granted, this Godolphin gelding has his quirks and was put firmly in his place by Main Aim at Haydock in the spring, but he ran a cracker for second in this race two years ago and the way he scythed through from the rear when trying to give 12lb to the fast-improving High Standing in the Wokingham proved that all the old ability remains intact.

Is he one for maximum faith? Probably not. But is he capable of travelling up smoothly to reward back to lay support? I suspect he is.

4.00

It would be the easiest thing in the world to side with Monsieur Chevalier. After all, Richard Hannon's colt is the clear ratings pick having won five from six and been barged out of contention on the sole occasion that he did meet defeat.

However, when a horse is trading at such skinny odds for a big race you have to search for chinks in the armour and Monsieur Chevalier could have one over this helter skelter five furlongs given that he took a fair while to find top gear both in the National Stakes at Sandown and in the Super Sprint at Newbury last time.

Granted, Monsieur Chevalier got up in time to win cosily in the end on both occasions, but the winner here will have to hold his place on the downhill stretch and hit the line in a little over 58 seconds if previous renewals of this race are any guide.

And that could be a problem for the favourite here. To my mind there is a good chance that Monsieur Chevalier's price will drift appreciably in running against a clutch of very speedy rivals. And, given that the leaders will probably sustain their speed this time around, this looks the day to take him on at skinny odds.