Goodwood today

Goodwood today stages a surprisingly strong card for a Wednesday, with the listed race over 10 furlongs at 16.40 CET as the main feature. Brown Panther (Tom Dascombe/ Richard Kingscote) is the class act here; he was the beaten favourite in the 2011 German Derby, but ran second in the St. Leger that year and most recently won the Goodwood Cup here at the big meeting at the end of August. However that race was over 2 miles and he has not run over a distance as short as this since his 2yo debut. We cannot believe that the Michael Owen-owned 5yo, who is being aimed at the Melbourne Cup, has a serious chance here, especially as he also has to concede weight all round. For us, the race lies between Grandeur (Jeremy Noseda/ Ryan Moore) who had a terrible run last time in the Arlington Million, and the 3yo Sugar Boy (Marco Botti/ Martin Harley), having his first race for new connections after finishing last, on much too firm ground, in the Irish Derby last time. Noseda also has a good chance of winning the 3yo handicap over 11 furlongs at 17.15 with top-weight Sweet Deal (William Buick), while another top weight who can score is Gospel Choir (Sir Michael Stoute/ Moore) at 16.05.
The card at Redcar is by comparison very weak, but Eland Ally (Tom Tate/ Andrew Elliott) is another top weight with a good chance in the 5 furlongs handicap at 16.50, and we also like Nordic Quest (Ger Butler/ Freddie Tylicki) in the following 10 furlongs handicap; he is by Montjeu out of a German mare from a good family.There is jumps racing at Perth and the usual policy here is to back the Irish runners, as they have an extremely good record here, especially those trained by Gordon Elliott. In our view his best chance is Formal Bid (Jason Maguire) in the claiming hurdle at 16.25. German-bred Wind Shuffle (Lucinda Russell/ Graham Watters) is an interesting runner here; he seems to have lost form completely, but at his best would have definite possibilities off this weight.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Arbaab - Travis Bickle - Idea
2. Race: Pack Leader - Sebastian Beach - Double Bluff
3. Race: Pearl Castle - Gospel Choir - Mister Impatience
4. Race: Grandeur - Brown Panther - Sugar Boy
5. Race: Deserted - Ice Pie - Angus Glens
6. Race: Slip Sliding Away - Dominium - Apricot Sky
7. Race: Never A Quarrel - Waseem Faris - Threave