Five Things To Look Out For At Glorious Goodwood

Is there a better week of racing? Doubtful. The Goodwood Festival kicks off on Tuesday and here are five things to look out for ahead of what promises to be another unmissable meeting that is jam-packed full of potential talking points. 

No Cakewalk For Dorset

It shouldn't take long for the temperature to rise as the G2 Coral Vintage Stakes looks a corker on Tuesday. The Aidan O'Brien-trained Dorset (Wootton Bassett) looked the business in earning TDN Rising Star status when getting off the mark second time up at Curragh and he will be bidding to provide Ballydoyle with a first success in this race since Battleground back in 2020. It is far from a foregone conclusion, however, with the chief danger appearing to come from the Andrew Balding-trained Humidity (Ulysses), who is bidding to maintain his unbeaten record. Horses like Haatem, Pinatubo, Expert Eye and Highland Reel have won this in recent times and this year's race looks to be an up-to-scratch edition. Notebooks at the ready.

Breakthrough Group 1 Imminent For Illinois 

Scandinavia (Justify) couldn't have been more impressive in landing the G3 Bahrain Trophy at Newmarket last time which makes it significant that Ryan Moore has opted to ride the fellow Aidan O'Brien-trained Illinois (Galileo) in his bid for a breakthrough Group 1 success in the Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup. To be fair to Illinois, he brings the form and the rating [116] to the table and was always going to be a hard horse for Moore not to ride. He's likely to go off at short odds and sets the standard in what doesn't appear to be a vintage Goodwood Cup. 

Lady Iman The Banker Of The Week

It seems around this time every year when people begin to extoll the merits of a first-season sire or begin to write off those who are not scaling the heights. Such observations are of course spoken with a heavy dollop of recency bias but nobody can deny that what Starman has achieved in his debut season is completely off the charts. The Ger Lyons-trained Lady Iman, who fittingly carries the colours of Tally-Ho Stud boss Tony O'Callaghan, has played no small part in hardening Starman's reputation as a pretty serious stallion and she should be very hard to beat in the G3 HKJC World Pool Molecomb Stakes on Wednesday. Had you paused the G2 Airlie Stud Stakes at the furlong pole, a race in which Lady Iman lost her unbeaten record at the hands of Beautify, few would have called her a loser such was the ease with which she was travelling. Dropping back to five furlongs and the speed test that the Molecomb represents is sure to play to her strengths. Oh, and a certain Ryan Moore is not a bad substitute for the suspended Colin Keane, either. Banker material. 

Pure Gold 

You don't need to part with any cash to get the full enjoyment out of the feature of the week, the G1 Visit Qatar Sussex Stakes, where the imperious Field Of Gold (Kingman) will be sent to post at long odds-on and is fully expected to deliver on Wednesday. John and Thady Gosden's colt built on his G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas success to produce a performance that will live long in the memory when running out a cosy winner of the G1 St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot. Rosallion (Blue Point) is a credible challenger in his own right. Lest we forget he landed the same Irish Guineas and St James's Palace Stakes double last season but he hasn't been at the same level in both of his starts at four. The younger legs should hold sway here. Sit back and enjoy. 

Can The Cercene Fairytale Continue?

Trainer Joe Murphy told TDN Europe that Cercene (Australia) fulfilled a lifelong ambition of winning a Group 1 when she outbattled her Coronation Stakes rivals at Royal Ascot and few would bet against the pocket-sized warrior producing another upset in the G1 Qatar Nassau Stakes on Friday. What Cercene lacks for in size she makes up for in attitude, which was evidenced when she provided us with one of the feel-good stories of the season with that success at the Royal meeting. Okay, Pretty Polly winner Whirl and Andrew Balding's See The Fire set a pretty lofty standard but Cercene can be expected to be bang on the premises for Murphy and his regular rider Gary Carroll. She adds spice to what promises to be a fascinating contest.