Timeform UK SmartPlays: Saturday August 3

The first of today's SmartPlays comes in the 12-furlong handicap at Goodwood (14:40) where the highly progressive Havana Cooler should continue his meteoric rise through the ranks for his in-form handler Luca Cumani. His second to Mujazif at Newmarket suggested his three-year-old campaign would be a fruitful one, and with comfortable wins at Ripon and Newmarket so far this term that has proved to be the case. He hung slightly when shedding his maiden tag at Ripon over what was an inadequate trip, but there was a lot to like about his most recent outing. After 11 weeks off the track he was in fact a much more comfortable winner at the July course than the one-and-three-quarter-length winning margin to Pether's Moon suggests. He found the 12-furlong trip much more to his liking and is taken to complete a hat-trick when encountering the same distance here; he remains unexposed and is one to keep on side although the likes of Bold Sniper and Elidor are clearly a danger in a typically competitive contest. 

We head over to Newmarket next to take in their minor event (16:05) over a mile and it's hard to get away from Sovereign Debt who will find this step back up to eight furlongs much more to his liking than the July Cup. His second behind Farhh in the Lockinge sets a clear standard on form over a mile and it's better to judge him on this basis than when things didn't go his way in the Queen Anne; he got a little warm beforehand at Ascot and wasn't suited by the way the race developed. Last time out at this course the trip was clearly inadequate and it was little surprise he was well held in a field of top-class sprinters. This contest represents a drop in grade, he is a C&D winner and currently sits 13 lb clear of the field on weight-adjusted Timeform ratings and it would be a significant upset were he not to win comfortably. On that basis he fills our criteria, with Royal Hunt Cup runner-up Premio Loco the most likely to head the list for minor honours. 

The closing contest of this year's Glorious Goodwood is also our last stop in the search for a Saturday winner, and Holley Shiftwell looks likely to defy a small rise in the weights to take the five-furlong handicap (17:35). She has been a model of consistency since unseating her rider at Lingfield in Februrary, with form figures of 1-2-1-2-1 in her last five outings. She has won readily at Lingfield and Newmarket, with both outings suggesting there was more to come and ran into a better-handicapped horse at Haydock in early-July when she took second. She looked to have a bit in hand when ending the re-opposing Lexington Place's winning run at Epsom last time out and should prove herself still ahead of the handicapper to take this contest. She has a smart pedigree being a half-sister to the mighty Deacon Blues and can prove a cut above the rest of the field, although Extrasolar should be suited by the drop to five furlongs and rates as the main danger. 

Timeform UK SmartPlays

Back Havana Cooler in the 14:40 at Goodwood
Back  Sovereign Debt in the 16:05 at Newmarket
Back Holley Shiftwell in the 17:35 at Goodwood