match at Goodwood

seven meetings today, five of them on the flat (and Mark Johnston has runners at all of them!) and two this evening over jumps, but mainly at a low level. The two best horses running today are almost certainly Contributer (Ed Dunlop/ Ryan Moore) and Disclaimer (Sir Henry Cecil/ Tom Queally) who meet in the listed Cocked Hat Stakes for 3yo´s over 11 furlongs at 16.45 CET. Unfortunately this race has cut up to such an extent that they are the only two runners. Both are well-bred promising types who could well be winning Group races later in the season but there is not much between them and clearly no point in having a bet.
The other Goodwood events do offer some betting opportunities, and we are interested in some 3yo´s running against older horses:.Centred (Sir Michael Stoute/ Franny Norton) and Divergence (Michael Bell/ Darren Egan) for instance, who are the bottom weights in the 1 1/2 mile race at 16.10. In receipt of lumps of weight, they could well finish well clear of their older opponents, the best of which is probably the lightly-raced Hepworth (John Gosden/ Ryan Moore); his jockey is not riding for his own yard as he could not do the weight on Centred. Later on, Wentworth (Richard Hannon/ Richard Hughes) is the only 3yo in the 6 furlongs handicap at 17.20. The Coolmore-owned colt won his last 2 races as a juvenile, but this seems rather an unusual race for him to start off his 3yo campaign; that said, he is quite possibly the proverbial group horse running in a handicap; the two he has to beat are the top-weight Prodigality (Ron Harris/ Thomas Brown) and the 10yo CD specialist Johannes (Richard Fahey/ Lucy Barry).
The 7 furlongs handicap at 15.35 is the trickiest race of the day and bookies are currently going 7-1 the field. Ryan Moore rides Goodwood extremely well and he is always dangerous when partnering a horse trained by his father Gary - in this case Shamahan, so he must go on the short list. So must the lightly-raced Flexible Flyer (Hughie Morrison/ Richard Hughes), and, if the forecast rain arrives, Accession (Clive Cox/ Adam Kirby), while course experience is always a big advantage here, in which case the CD winners Brave Echo (Mike Attwater/ Seb Sanders) and last year´s winner Shifting Star (JJ Bridger/ Joey Haynes) also come into the reckoning.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Ligeia - Talksalot - Chance Of Romance
2. Race: Polar Kite - Royal Reyah - Harrison George
3. Race: Centred - Hepworth - Princess Caetani
4. Race: Contributer - Disclaimer - Contributer
5. Race: Wentworth - Prodigality - Annunciation
6. Race: Auction - Callmeakhab - Everleigh
7. Race: Shirley`s Pride - Buy Art - Royal Guinevere