Goodwood Preview: Frankel vor, as the Germans say

Arriving on a speedboat, the bottle in hand, Frankie Dettori does a flying disembark onto the beach at Bognor Regis, before passing it over to Willie Carson, the first of the dozen former riding greats who'll carry the bottle on its final 11.5 mile journey from Bognor to Goodwood. Six hours later, the final bottle-carrier, Pat Eddery, is himself carried, triumphantly, into the racecourse, where he's met by the seven hand-picked youngsters from the British Racing School who perform the final duty of filling the Pimm's fountain, and the 2012 Goodwood racing festival is officially declared open.

I presume that's what form the Goodwood opening ceremony will take, as there is due to be one. I've never heard of it before, nor witnessed it in any of my several working visits to Glorious Goodwood, but on all the promotional material it clearly states that there will indeed be an opening ceremony, including the 'blessing of the cups'. Come on Goodwood, you're big enough and established enough and good enough to not have to lean on the Olympics. Better to go the other way and embrace the role of David to the Olympics' Goliath in the uneven battle for sporting attention, using the Sussex slingshot to fire an entire Frankel at London, with the message of 'you've got the rest now come see the best'.

You'll be watching history being made at 15:10 on Wednesday, for both Goodwood and Frankel. Frankel will become the only horse to have won the Sussex Stakes twice in the 170-year history of the race, and more importantly, because it's Frankel's history, the Sussex Stakes will be the only race Frankel wins twice. This year's Sussex Stakes won't be so much a race as a lap of honour, but all things Frankel will get more interesting at York in three weeks when the trip and the opposition will be different for him, and so, with that in mind, don't expect Tom Queally to ask Frankel for the full Frankel on Wednesday; third gear will be more than enough this time, saving the turbo overdrive for the Juddmonte International.

There are, apparently, some other horses running at Goodwood this week- let's look at some of the key ones:

Girolamo

No, I'd never heard of him, either, until very recently, but then again I'd never heard of Energizer or Gracia Directa prior to their wins in Britain this year, and they, along with Danedream, mean that challengers from Germany now have to be re-taken very seriously. Under the guidance of the same trainer as Danedream, Peter Schiergen, Girolamo has gone from strength to strength in his first season racing, capped with a fine third in the German Derby behind Pastorius, who won another Group 1 at the weekend. On that form, Girolamo is a match for Michaelangelo and Noble Mission (or, as I've said before, Frankel's brother as he must always be referred), yet the xenophobic betting for the Gordon Stakes on Tuesday doesn't see it that way. Wert, as the Germans say: value.

Chachamaidee

Gewissheit, as the Germans say: certainty. Now, this is coloured by the fact I really like Chachamaidee and really don't like Libranno, seeing her as a martyr and him as a bully, but, besides the irrelevant personal preferences, both the form book and the likely tactics says she'll win the Lennox on Tuesday. The post-race running notes for the pair will read:

Libranno- soon led, harried by Majestic Myles, further softened up by Firebeam, Hughesie pretending he's still going well 1½f out, found little.
Chachamaidee- dwelt, not so slowly away as at Royal Ascot (please God), held up, suited by strong pace, cruised through 1½f out, driven clear, justice done.

Olympic Glory

I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but on the 29th April 2011, the very day William and Kate got married, events conspired at Fontwell for Royal Wedding to make all of the running, never to be seen on the track again. And here we are, in the midst of the Olympics, with Olympic Glory suspiciously pitching up. Coincidence? Yes, actually, as the Vintage on Wednesday is the logical next stop in his impressive development, but it's potentially the best juvenile race of the year in Britain so far, and it will take an Olympic effort from Olympic Glory to give weight all round. The second and third from the Superlative, Birdman and Maxentius, both fancy their chances of reversing the form, justifiably so as far as Maxentius is concerned back on firmer ground, and then there's Godolphin's Chesham winner Tha'ir, but most intriguing and exciting of all is Ghurair, who made such a big impression on his debut. In short, Olympic Glory will do well to pull off the same trick as Royal Wedding.

Tangerine Trees

There are too many races called the King George, but this one at Goodwood on the Friday is completely different to those at Ascot and Kempton in that it's all about speed, speed, speed, and more speed. Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fastest of them all? It's probably Tangerine Trees, the Abbaye winner. The problem is that Tangerine Trees has shown that speed for only four of the five furlongs of both his starts this season, but it was an identical story, in the same two races (Temple and King's Stand), in 2012 before a break saw him soar again in August. He has never previously raced at Goodwood, but the downhill sprint track with its funnel of speed will suit him perfectly, and though the risk is big, the reward could be bigger.