I feel like I deserve a change of luck this week after finding the runner’s up spot too many times for my liking. Hopefully today is the day my luck changes and I think there is a good chance of a winner in the Richmond Stakes with ROYAL SCOTSMAN. Paul Cole’s charge was a big eye catcher for me in the Coventry at Royal Ascot and he certainly looks an above average two year old. His trainer is so stranger to a smart two year old but this one looks to possess a little bit more raw speed than some of the previous youngsters which have been through Paul Cole’s yard. A dominant display here at Goodwood prior to his Ascot run adds a little bit more substance to the form where he beat the re-opposing Bluelight Bay, who I think is a smart horse in his own right. He is a shorty but I do think he is a goody.
I find it hard to envisage HOO YA MAL out of the places in the Gordon Stakes. The Derby runner up should have never been the price he was that day and he certainly improved for the step up in trip as connections presumed he would. Subsequently sold to new connections, who may have targets down under for him, he lines up here today a 4/1 chance at the time of writing and being the highest rated horse and a Grade 1 proven performer I think he should be favourite. His rivals have a little bit more to prove than he does and if he runs as well as he did in the Derby then he wins this.
I’m a big fan of Nashwa but backing a three year old filly in against some experienced mares in a race of this nature at cramped odds is always a no-go for me. I’d rather find one to upset the apple cart or at least run into a place and I hope DREAMLOPER is the mare to do just that. I can’t believe I got her beat off a mark of 85 a few seasons back at Kempton but it’s fair to say she has improved since then and has gone on to achieve great things. The ground went against her last time out but she should be at home back on this quicker surface and if Kieran Shoemark can time his attack today I think her turn of foot will certainly at least lay up with Nashwa, we will have to see whether it is enough to beat her.
Goodwood 2.25 – Royal Scotsman
Goodwood 3.00 – Hoo Ya Mal
Goodwood 3.35 – Dreamloper
