Winter (3.35) is on course to win her fourth Group One of the season for Aidan O’Brien in the Nassau StakesThe weather forecast is a good deal better for Goodwood on Thursday afternoon after a day when the track received as much rain in a day as it would normally expect in the whole of August, but the damage has already been done. The going is officially soft, heavy in places and there are already 22 non-runners spread across the seven races, a quarter of the original 88 horses declared.Three significant contenders – Wuheida, Shutter Speed and Nezwaah – are out of what was originally a nine-runner field for Thursday’s Group One Nassau Stakes, but at the time of writing,...
Ribchester and Churchill go head-to-head in the Sussex Stakes as punters hope for a better afternoon than they had on the opening dayThe first afternoon at Glorious Goodwood was little short of a disaster for the punters, with complete “skinners” for the bookies in three of the seven races, defeat for the hugely popular Big Orange in the Goodwood Cup and only one successful favourite.I’ve now been a (very) regular racegoer for about 30 years, and I’m sure that I can remember every one of the 100-1 winners I’ve seen in that time, including Mon Mome in the Grand National and Norton’s Coin in the Gold Cup, Morning Post in the sales race at the Leger meeting a few years...
Big Orange is the favourite for the first running of the Goodwood Cup as a Group 1 race but Stradivarius has improved with every step up in tripBig Orange has drifted a little this morning for the first running of the Goodwood Cup as a Group 1 race, from odds-on on Monday evening to a top price of evens with several firms, including a handful who might actually lay more than tuppence ha’penny. It remains a very lopsided market, however, with every other horse in the 14-strong field on offer at double-figure odds since the chances arrayed against Michael Bell’s gelding are all seen as much of a muchness.The fact that there is still a mention of “soft” in the...
Charlie McBride insists there was ‘no collusion and no ulterior motive’ behind the embarrassing chain events that led to the wrong horse winning on ThursdayThe trainer at the centre of the wrong winner fiasco at Yarmouth on Thursday has insisted there was “no collusion and no ulterior motive” behind the embarrassing chain of events that led to his horse winning the opening race.Charlie McBride believed he had saddled the 50-1 shot Mandarin Princess before the first race of the day at the Norfolk track but it was in fact stablemate Millie’s Kiss who had been sent out, a three-year-old running against two-year-olds, and who passed the post in first place. Millie’s Kiss was due to run later on the same...
Clive Cox has revealed that his classy filly came back with pulled muscles after finishing third in the Prix Robert Papin at Maisons-Laffitte on SundayClive Cox has revealed that Heartache came back with pulled muscles after suffering a shock first defeat of her career in the Prix Robert Papin at Maisons-Laffitte on Sunday.The filly was a hot favourite to remain unbeaten in the Group Two race following a convincing victory in the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot last month, but could finish only third behind Karl Burke’s Unfortunately and Tom Dascombe’s runner-up Frozen Angel. Related: Karl Burke’s Unfortunately has luck on his side in Prix Robert Papin Related: Bookie in plea to Gambling Commission over ‘matched-betting’ activity Continue reading...