Kevin Blake's Saturday Racing Tips: Fairy and Lally two to back at Goodwood

This coming Saturday isn't one of the most high-profile days in the British Flat season, but it will still see plenty of competitive and classy action on ITV Racing. As usual, we'll do our best to pull a winner or two out of it.

Forcing tactics and softer ground to suit Fairy

The first race that takes my eye is Goodwood's William Hill Prestige Fillies' Stakes (13:50) and the one I like is the Charlie Appleby-trained Fairy Cross.

The daughter of Dubawi has proven to be very progressive in her three starts to date, leaving her disappointing debut behind when winning a fillies' maiden at Newmarket in great style prior to finishing a close second in a Listed race at Sandown.

I feel it is notable that she made all the running when she won at Newmarket, but raced freely in a prominent position when ridden with more restraint at Sandown last time. The hope is that her connections will now revert to the front-running tactics that seemed to suit her well at Newmarket, as there is a fair chance she will get the lead to herself and might well relax better if allowed to set her own pace.

The other factor that makes me keen on her chance is the rain-softened ground. She hasn't raced on it before, but her dam Devonshire was particularly effective on testing ground and this filly moves as though she will handle it to. All being well, she should prove to be tough to beat.

Return to Goodwood key for Lally

The other race of interest is the William Hill Handicap (14:25) and the pick of them for me is the Andrew Balding-trained Oo De Lally.

The four-year-old has progressed into a smart handicapper and while he hasn't won yet this year, there is cause to think that this might be his best chance to do so as he has shown a notable liking for the quirky test that Goodwood presents.

He has run twice over this course and distance, finishing a fine second to the highly-progressive Rhoscolyn in a valuable handicap prior to winning another competitive handicap in July 2021.

This is his first run back at Goodwood since then and with the rain having arrived (the ground was heavy and soft for those two fine runs at Goodwood in the past), it wouldn't be a surprise if he produced a season-best effort and went very close to winning.