1:50 Goodwood – Watcha Matey
This is a hot race, but I’m looking forward to seeing Watcha Matey step up to a mile and a quarter for the first time. He’s looked like he’s wanted this stiffer test of stamina for a little while now, and I think he just found the mile in the Britannia a little sharp for him, as he did last time at Newmarket. We don’t know for sure that he’ll get it, but he suggests that he will, and I think he goes there with a decent chance.
Thankfully the threat of thunderstorms at Goodwood seems to have disappeared, and I suspect they’ll water the track after Wednesday’s action, so come Thursday afternoon, we should have perfect quick summer ground for him which is what he likes.
2:25 Goodwood - The Waco Kid
I’m feeling braver about running The Waco Kid here after just two starts considering how well Wolf Of Badenoch ran on Tuesday after just one run, but after a furlong of that race when he was struggling to go the gallop, I wasn’t feeling quite as brave. The Waco Kid wouldn’t be the biggest horse in the field, so I think he’s very much a two-year-old, but he’s shown us plenty at home, and I thought he took a nice step forward from his debut effort when getting off the mark at Newbury a couple of weeks ago.
This doesn’t look the deepest Richmond there’s ever been, and the form of the Coventry has taken a few knocks, so even though he will still have to take a decent step forward to win it, it might not be the strongest division currently. You never know how they will handle going into this better company until you try it, but everything he’s shown us at home suggests that he can cope with it, so hopefully he’s capable of ruffling a few feathers.
4:10 Goodwood – King Of Angels
King Of Angels hasn’t really been done any favours by draw out in stall 15 which is annoying, but there’s not a lot we can do about that. He’s been really frustrating King Of Angels because he’s refused to play ball at the start on a couple of occasions now, so it’s always going to be heart in mouth time wondering whether he’s going to behave himself at the gates here. It’s hard to know at this stage how good the form is, but I was really impressed with his win at Doncaster last time, and I think a mark of 83 puts him in there with a nice weight and a nice chance.
Aidan Keeley rode him so well at Doncaster last time, so he’ll ride him once again, and if he can get a similar tune out of him and get him settled in a nice position, then he could definitely be in there with a shout.
4:10 Goodwood – Fred On Fire
Fred On Fire is in the same race as King Of Angels, and much like his stablemate, he’s not been handed a good draw out in stall 11. He surprised me last time with just how green he was as it was his second start, and he’d won on debut, but it was his first try on the grass, so maybe that explains it. I’m hoping he’s learned from that as Goodwood can be a bit tricky for young horses, but he didn’t do too much wrong, so I’m not too concerned.
He did look like he was crying out for this extra furlong, so I’m looking forward to seeing how he gets on here, and fingers crossed he can be very competitive.
5:55 Goodwood – Native King
I think a slow pace and ground softer than ideal was his undoing at Chester last time, but I’m sure this race will be run to suit, and I think a turning track is what he wants. He looks fantastic at the moment, and I’ve been really happy with his work at home as he’s just strengthened up day by day.
He’s going to need to settle and switch off here if he’s going to have a winning chance, but Jamie Spencer rides, and he has some of the best hands in the business, so I think he’ll suit him very well indeed.
3:10 Nottingham – Kokinelli
I haven’t had a chance to have an in-depth look at this race yet, but my gut feeling upon seeing the entries was that it wasn’t the strongest race in the world. I thought she’d be a filly that would need three runs to get that experience and then we could go and find a handicap for her, but this just looked a winnable opportunity, and if she improves for the step up to a mile as I’m expecting her too, then I think she has a really good chance.
She’s a beautifully bred filly, so it’s important she wins a race sooner rather than later, and I’m hoping it will be here at Nottingham on Thursday afternoon.
3:45 Nottingham – Wonder Smile
Wonder Smile has been really frustrating because he definitely has the ability to win, but he’s just made it look much harder than he needs to. He hasn’t been running particularly badly, and he went close off this mark a couple of starts ago, so if he does put it all together, then he’s certainly capable of winning a race like this on only his second start over a mile.
6:45 Wolverhampton – Pitney
Pitney has been gelded since we last saw him, so hopefully that will prompt a return to form after a disappointing run at Sandown last time. We certainly haven’t seen the best that Pitney has to offer on the track yet, so I’m just hoping a return to the all-weather will allow him to show his best, and he’s another who does really want a turning track, so being back at Wolverhampton should suit, and I expect we’ll see something better from him here.
7:15 Wolverhampton – Supaspecialawesome
Supaspecialawesome certainly has ability, but I haven’t yet met the man who can predict what he’s going to do on any given day, and he’s a very curious horse indeed. He’s another who likes Wolverhampton, but he also likes to have things his own way, and I doubt that he’ll get as uncontested a lead as he did when dead-heating here last time, so we’ll have to see how things pan out for him.
He needed headgear when I first put it on him, but he seems to have responded well to having it taken off, so hopefully he can run another good race and pick up some of that very generous prize money.
