The Glorious Goodwood Meeting gets under way tomorrow Tuesday 31st July 2007 with the Group 2 Betfair Cup over 7 furlongs for three year olds + as the feature race. Also on the card is the Group 3 Gordon Stakes for three year olds over one and a half miles and the Group 3 Molecomb Stakes for two year olds over 5 furlongs. Wednesday sees the Group 1 Sussex Stakes for 3 year olds + over 1 mile as the feature race, backed up by the Group 2 Vintage Stakes for two year olds over 7 furlongs. Aidan O'Brien appears to hold the keys to the Sussex Stakes. The Group 2 Goodwood Cup for 3 year olds + over two miles is my favourite race and is the feature race on Thursday. Geordieland ran second to Yeats in this race last year and second to Yeats in this year's Ascot Gold Cup. With Yeats not running this time perhaps Geordieland can go one better. Distinction has been off the course for a long time but has apparantly been pleasing connections at home. Third Set was impressive at Ascot on Saturday and could win the Totesport Mile which is the feature race on Friday. Expect a lot of runners for this race. The Group 2 Richmond Stakes for two year olds over six furlongs is one of the supporting races along with the Group 3 Oak Tree Stakes for fillies over 7 furlongs. On Saturday we may well see Mandesha make her first trip to Britain and contest the Group 3 Nassau Stakes for 3 year old + fillies and mares over ten furlongs. She has won three Group 1 races in France. The big betting race of the day will be the Stewards Cup, a six furlong sprint handicap for 3 year olds+. The location of Goodwood racecourse is magnificent, especially on a sunny day. I have only made a few visits there myself over the years. The first time I went was in 1963. I remember No Fiddling with Jimmy Lindley aboard winning the first race which set me up for the rest of the day. Tiger trained by Sir Gordon Richards won the Gordon Stakes that afternoon. As I have said on other blogs it seems easy to remember winners over the years but you quickly forget the losers ! For the racecards with the runners and riders visit the sporting life. For all the runners and riders with the jockey's colours go to Paddy Power and click on "Horse Racing".

The King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes was first run in 1951. It was a race designed for the finest horses from the different generations and from different countries to compete over one and a half miles. The winner would be recognized as a true champion. This years race has a disappointing turnout, especially as Authorized and Soldier of Fortune have not been declared. There will only be one three year old in the field in Yellowstone which is Aidan O'Brien's third string. There were no three year olds in 2006, only one in 2005 when it was run at Newbury, and none in 2002 and 2000. Dylan Thomas is a worthy favourite for the race on Saturday 28th July but it might be worth taking a chance with Youmzain who should be an each way bet. The going is going to be soft and the winner will need to stay beyond the one and half miles. Whoever wins I do not beleive they will be in the same league as some of the great champions that have won this race over the years. I have collated all the winners since 1951 and I hope you will see what I mean ! Those in capitals acheived a Timeform rating of 137 or more. 1951 Supreme Court, 1952 Tulyar, 1953 Pinza, 1954 Aureole, 1955 Viny, 1956 RIBOT, 1957 Monteval, 1958 Ballymoss who went on to win the Prix de l'Arc, 1959 Alcide, 1960 Aggressor, 1961 Right Royal, 1962 Match, 1963 Ragusa, 1964 Nasram II, 1965 Meadowcourt, Lester Piggott's first of seven victories, 1966 Aunt Edith, 1967 Busted, 1968 Royal Palace, 1969 Park Top, 1970 NIJINSKY, 1971 MILL REEF, 1972 BRIGADIER GERARD, 1973 Dahlia, 1974 Dahlia again, 1975 GRUNDY and what a race with Bustino, 1976 Pawnesse, 1977 The Minstral, 1978 Ile de Bourbon, 1979 Troy, 1980 Ela Mana Mou, 1981 SHERGAR, 1982 Kalaglow, 1983 Time Charter, 1984 Teenoso, 1985 Petoski, 1986 DANCING BRAVE who went on to win the Prix de l'Arc and was voted horse of the year, 1987 REFERENCE POINT, 1988 Mtoto, 1989 Nashwan, 1990 Belmez, 1991 GENEROUS, 1992 St Jovite, 1993 Opera House, 1994 Kings Theatre, 1995 Lammtarra who had won the Derby and also went on to win the Prix de l'Arc, 1996 Pentire, 1997 Swain, 1998 Swain again, 1999 DAYLAMI, 2000 MONTJEU, 2001 Galileo, 2002 Golan, 2003 Alamshar, 2004 Doyen, 2005 Azamour and 2006 Hurricane Run. For me this is the best race of the flat season in this country. It always falls around my birthday and I have attended Ascot many years for this particular race. With the poor turnout this year and the fancy admisson prices at Ascot I will be content to watch the race on the television. May the best horse win the race on Saturday. For the latest runners and riders visit the sporting life. For all the runners and riders with the jockey's colours go to Paddy Power and click on "Horse Racing".

A super three days racing at Newmarket where the weather was reasonably kind. The Group 1 Falmouth Stakes on Wednesday was reduced to seven runners when Speciosa was withdrawn. Simply Perfect was given a fine front running ride by Johnny Murtagh and won quite easily. Nannina and Red Evie were both very disappointing. In the larger fields there did seem to be an advantage to those horses drawn high to middle. In the Lancashire Oaks, Turbo Linn was a surprise and easy winner. She will no doubt win again. After the fifth race the going was changed to good to firm. On Thursday Winker Watson overcame a slow start from a low draw to get up and beat River Proud in the Group 2 July Stakes. In the Group 2 Princess of Wales Stakes the quirky Papul Bull was a surprise winner to most. Lucarno was fancied by the blogger but ran as though this was one race too many in a short space of time. Friday produced a great days racing made all the more pleasurable by meeting up with old school chums Colin and Peter. Winners were again hard to come by and on the straight course the fastest ground seemed to be on the far side. Amadeus Wolf was disappointing again in Group 1 July Cup. Sakhee's Secret is the new kid on the block and proved a high class winner as predicted by Timeform in their race card comments. Thank goodness I took notice of them and managed to recoupe my stake money on the days racing. In the Bunbury Cup Handicap both Intrepid Jack and Dabbers Ridge ran poor races. Mine met with trouble in running but would not have troubled the winner and placed horses anyway. There seemed to be plenty of confidence in these three horses beforehand and they should be followed next time. Saturday at York saw Charlie Tokyo handle the very heavy ground in the John Smith's Cup better than anything else. On Sunday the ground made the difference again when Peeping Fawn reversed Epsom placings with Light Shift in the Irish Oaks. Henry Cecil had expressed his fears about Light Shift handling the heavy ground beforehand. Johnny Murtagh came in for the ride on Peeping Fawn. The next big meeting will be Ascot for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes closely followed by glorious Goodwood which commences on Tuesday 31st July and runs through to Saturday 4th August 2007. It will be interesting to see if Authorized lines up at Ascot. For all the racecards visit the Sporting Life. For all the runners and riders with the jockey's colours go to Paddy Power and click on "Horse Racing".

Full marks to Ryan Moore for walking the Sandown course and discovering where the best ground was. Anybody who had seen Channel 4's Morning Line interview with the clerk of the course on Saturday morning knew that the best ground in his opinion would be the route that Ryan Moore took in the Coral Eclipse. It was not rocket science ! The best horse on the day won. The race proved that there was not much between Authorized and George Washington. Connections of George Washington are now considering going for the Juddmonte International at York, whereas the owners of Authorized are concerned that the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot could come too soon. It did not come too soon for Reference Point who put up a superb performance in winning the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes after just losing the Coral Eclipse to Mtoto in 1987. Tomorrow the 11th of July sees the start of Newmarket's July Meeting. It looks as though there will only be seven runners for the feature race the Falmouth Stakes where Arch Swing is fancied to win for John Oxx. As the Lancashire Oaks has been transfered from Haydock there will be eight races on the the card which will make for a long afternoon. For all the runners and riders and latest news go to the sporting life. The feature race on Thursday is the Princess of Wales's Stakes. This could go to Lucarno who has been very consistent so far this season. The feature race on Friday is the July Cup. As already mentioned in a previous blog I am hoping Amadeus Wolf can do the business and improve on his fourth place of last year. The Bunbury Cup is always very competitive. The short list for this is last years winner Mine, last years runner up Intrepid Jack and Dabbers Ridge. On Saturday we have the John Smith's Cup at York. At the time of writing 36 have stood their ground. The race will be run on soft or heavy ground over nine furlongs and not the usual ten and half furlongs. This is because the course has been waterlogged. Aidan O'Brien has a strong hand in this with three runners, one of them being the well fancied Sorolla. The race has happy memories for me going back to 1964 when it was known as the Magnet Cup. I was in dire need of a winner to keep my bookmaker happy and Space King ridden by Edward Hide obliged at 25/1 for me. Space King was a game and genuine race horse who did me a few favours in the sixties. Happy memories. For all the runners and riders with the jockey's colours go to Paddy Power and click on "Horse Racing".

Newmarket stages their three day July Meeting next week commencing on Wednesday 11th July with the Falmouth Stakes, a Group 3 for 3yo+ fillies over 1 mile, as the feature race. The feature race on Thursday will be the Princess of Wales Stakes, a Group 2 for 3yo+ over 12 furlongs. On Friday the 13th the feature race will be the July Cup, a Group 1 for 3yo+ over 6 furlongs. At the time of writing this blog the actual runners and riders for most of the races are a bit sketchy because of the prevailing bad weather which will influence ground conditions. I am looking forward to going and seeing what improvements have been made to the area behind the main stand. This is my favourite course for watching Flat racing. The July Meeting has a charm all of its own. For me it is an enjoyable drive from my Essex home up through the villages of north Essex , into Cambridgeshire briefly, and then into Suffolk, thereby missing the charge and holdups on the M11 Motorway. I was first taken to Newmarket in 1959. Strange how you can still remember winners but not losers! I do remember backing Better Off that day. She was booted up the hill by Willie Snaith. In 1960 I was fortunate to see Sweet Solera win. She was very impressive and the next season went on to win the 1000 Guineas and the Oaks. I have attended most July Meetings over the years and rain or shine I will be there next week. I have taken 16/1 about Amadeus Wolf for the July Cup. If he wins it will help with expenses for the three days. For all the runners and riders go to the sporting life. For all the runners and riders with the jockey's colours go to Paddy Power and click on "Horse Racing".

In 1987 I remember going to Sandown Park for the Coral Eclipse expecting to see Reference Point win the race after his fine display in the Derby. He was the first Derby winner since Mill Reef in 1971 to contest the race and take on the older horses. The 1987 Coral Eclipse was a superb horse race with Reference Point and Mtoto locked in a ding-dong battle over the last two furlongs. The older horse Mtoto won by three quarters of a length. Authorized was a superb Derby winner this year. The Curragh's loss will be Sandown's gain as Authorized by-passed the Irish Derby for a crack at the older horses. In the last twenty years the only three year olds to win the Coral Eclipse have been Nashwan in 1989, Elmaamul in 1990, Environment Friend in 1991, Giants Causeway in 2000, Hawk Wing in 2002, and Oratorio in 2005. Now that George Washington takes his place in the field we should be in for another fascinating horse race. His trainer, Aidan O'Brien, thinks 'Gorgeous George' will stay the distance, although he appeared not to stay the trip when racing in America at Churchill Downs. Aidan O'Brien's horses are in tremendous form and if the real George Washington turns up at Sandown I would not be surprised to see him beat Authorized. Of course we must not forget the other runners ! For all the runners and riders go to the sporting life. For all the runners and riders with the jockey's colours go to Paddy Power and click on "Horse Racing".