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What we have learned from day one at Goodwood

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Simon Rowlands looks back on the first day's highlights from Goodwood and the betting pointers it presented

The Betfair Cup was the highlight of the opening day of Goodwood's five-day festival and provided something of a surprise, as Paco Boy (118 rating) prevailed from Stimulation (117 rating), the pair clear of the field. The winner, who wandered after leading 1f out, is some way removed from the calibre shown by Iffraaj, who was well into the 120s in ratings when scoring in 2006. The disappointment of the race was Infallible (101 rating), who proved anything but that in finishing only fifth. She edged right and found little and might have been feeling the effects of some hard races in defeat.

The Gordon Stakes earlier on the card promised to provide a strong pointer to the St Leger at Doncaster in September. Conduit (113 rating) duly won at a Betfair SP of [1.54] but by only a head from Donegal (113 rating), with the penalised Hebridean (113 rating) in third, and looked to have little left in the locker.

Form at least 7 lb better than this is likely to be needed to win the St Leger, and it was no surprise to see Conduit on the slide on the Betfair ante-post market for the final classic. At the time of writing he is [8.0] to back, behind Patkai (who has the same connections) at [4.1] and Frozen Fire at [6.6].

The speedballs who contested the Betfair Molecomb Stakes won't be staying the St Leger trip unless it is in a horse box, but some of them may have claims for top sprinting honours next year. After all, this is the race in which the 1-2-3 12 months before was no less than Fleeting Spirit, Kingsgate Native and Captain Gerrard. Finjaan (109 rating) lies several pounds behind the top juveniles, notably Mastercraftsman, but he showed a good attitude to get to the front in the final 1f and then to hold the late challenge of Bonnie Charlie (108 rating). The winning time of 57.88 sec was 0.08 quicker than Fleeting Spirit's the year before.

Overall, the times on the first day were slightly faster than in 2007, when the ground was on the easy side of "good". It seems likely that overnight rain had an effect, and there is no evidence of the "good to firm in places" given officially, even on the straight course, which may be riding rather quicker than the round.

* Ratings are form-based assessments, expressed in pounds, and are on a scale similar to those employed by Racing Post and Timeform.