An excellent day on Friday for connections of Battash winning his 4th Goodwood King George in a row [2/7f] smashing the track record in the process [55.62s]. Now we come to the final day of the meeting with some big races to take a look at and the feature is the challenge that is the 28 runner Stewards Cup off at 3.35pm. The Saturday meeting should also have seen the return of a crowd in attendance here, However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision on Friday morning to postpone changes due to come into effect on 1st Aug by min of two weeks means that this test event will no longer take place.
With the Galway racing festival also on we've only been looking at the major races each day not the entire card so focused on the main Group Races or major handicaps. The Unibet Stewards Cup takes centre stage for the final day of the Qatar Goodwood Festival. Previous winners of this iconic sprint include Lochsong and Dancing Star. The six furlong cavalry charge of the Unibet Stewards Cup is a sight to behold, with a field of 28 sprinters thundering down the Goodwood straight.Going -- Good to firm
Weather -- Generally cloudy day, bit breezy and high 21C
1:50 Stewards Sprint Handicap
6f [17 runners]
Saluti [D Tudhope] / May Remain [C Fallon] against the field here in our opening handicap contest, very open, might give some draw clues to the big handicap sprint later in the afternoon.
2:25 Unibet Summer Handicap
1m 6f [10 runners]
Time for a stayers event worth £31k to winner, while Sir Michael Stoute's runner Laafy [Ryan Moore] is sure to stay does appear to act better with some ease in the going and might not appreciate this ground getting any 'firmer' in the going description. Kings Advice won this last year for Mark Johnston and looks a good bet to return to form having found it difficult on soft going last time, also a course / distance winner is Platitude who's a good place bet over this trip.
3:00 Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes 1m 6f (Group 2)
Just the four runners declared for today's main supporting race, this might be a Group 2 but the Stewards Cup is still the feature today in my opinion. The race is for Fillies and Mares aged three and over, and of the small field declared we have last year's winner returning again ENBIHAAR trained by John Gosden and ridden by Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum's retained jockey Jim Crowley should be close once again. Manuela De Vega has already collected a couple of nice group prizes this summer last time the Lancashire Oaks at Haydock and could be a battle between these two.
The other pair Cabaletta and Snow are 3yo's and might find it hard even with their weight for age allowances, although Snow has been campaigned at this level and could make a decent older mare if allowed to stay in training.
3:35 Qatar Stewards Cup 6f (Heritage Handicap)
A maximum field of 28 runners for this summer renewal of the Stewards Cup, where plenty of luck in running will be needed, and it makes sense to take one from each side of the draw while the betting will be frantic and it's 7/1 the field as we currently stand.
WATAN [drawn 16] Trained by Richard Hannon has booked the services of Ryan Moore for this and although beaten a couple of lengths by NAHAARR [drawn 19] who reappears here again that one has gone up 8lb while Watan is still off his same mark therefore they should be much closer yet our first selection is 14/1 as opposed to Nahaarr currently about 9/2.
STONE OF DESTINY could be an each way gamble, was not too far away in the Wokingham and used to large fields, is 25/1 and represents a nice place prospect, with many bookies offering five places at least. The Wokingham winner HEY JONESY also appears he's been running well in plenty of big races and now he's found the winning thread again available at 16/1 these are the two I'll pick for the place markets. Wide open race for sure.
Have enjoyed the racing this week despite lack of crowds we will have to hope that things keep improving and spectators can come again soon, have a great weekend.
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