The pick of the prices on Day 4 at Glorious Goodwood....

Thursday, 3rd August 2023

The pick of the prices on Day 4 at Glorious Goodwood….

Today is Day 3 at the Glorious Goodwood meeting….

If you missed my selections for this afternoon’s handicap targets – you’ll find them here….

Today I’m focused on tomorrow’s target handicaps….

The Goodwood Handicap at 1.50 – in which 18 runners tackle the 20f trip….

…. and the Golden Mile at 3.00 – where 20 go t it over the turning mile….

The rack remains soft all over this morning – but the forecast is for a drier weather over the next 48-hours….

Let’s get down to business….

• In the Goodwood Handicap – 1.50….

I’m having a proper swing of the bat in this one and backing PRINCE IMPERIAL at the 16s….

It’s not often I’ll back a horse that was well beaten last time out sent off at 100s – but I’m making an exception….

That defeat came in the Ascot Stakes at the Royal meeting and it was the 6yo’s first run for Milton Harris….

He lost loads of lengths at the start with his tardy exit from the stalls and he was out the rear most of the way….

He was never going to win from that platform but under Rob Hornby he did make up ground late on….

…. and – whist he certainly wasn’t knocked about close to home – he did enough to suggest there’s more to come from him on another day….

Things are set up quite well for him tomorrow. For one, the ground is in his favour – and that’s not the case for all the participants….

For another, they don’t start from the stalls – and that’s a plus for a horse who had problems in that regard at Ascot and has had the same problem on previous occasions….

He’s not badly handicapped on the best of his flat form and in easy conditions I can see him outrunning his price for his new – and very canny – trainer who sent out the runner-up in this race last term….

This is one of those bets that can make a fool of a picker. But I don’t worry about that kind of thing. You’d never back one at a price if you worry too much about being totally wrong….

And I could be totally wrong. But I just think the Ascot run was better than the bare result and I’m pretty sure they will have learnt something that day….

Hornby retains the ride, conditions are favourable, the yard’s in form and the price is good enough (for me at least) to take the swing….

• In the Golden Mile – 3.00….

If you’re a punter committed to playing the percentages….

…. then you should know that the Golden Mile has been won by a horse from a double-figure draw just twice in the last 21-years….

…. but that could all be out of the window this year….

…. in Tuesday’s handicap for the fillies over the mile trip – in which 18 went to post – the first three were drawn in stalls 14, 15 and 18….

They don’t make this game easy….

I’m going to back AWAAL at the general 12s….

He’s gone close the last twice in top level handicaps – he was 3/30 in the Royal Hunt Cup and 3/15 in the Bunbury Cup….

The cut in the ground will suit, so too the step back up to a mile on this turning track – and the addition of first-time cheekpieces and a quality 3lb claimer in the saddle might just be the adjustments required to get him home in front….

I want to be two-against-the-field in this one and my second pick is JOHAN at the 25s….

First time up is the time to catch the one-time winner of the Lincoln….

He was 4th in this race two years ago after a busier preparation off a pound higher….

…. and if they’ve got him right at home then he will be there or thereabouts….

The ground is fine for him and in James Doyle – 8 from 26 over the last fortnight – connections have secured the services of a rider full of confidence who knows the horse….

That’s all for today….

I’ll be back tomorrow with my take on the handicap action on Day 5 at Glorious Goodwood….

Meantime – contact me direct at – nick.pullen@oxonpress.co.uk  

And remember – win, lose, or draw – enjoy the racing….

Stay tuned.

Against the Crowd