Glorious Goodwood – or as it’s known now, the Qatar Goodwood Festival – is five days of top flat racing in the UK. However, the interest in this fantastic meeting is much broader than the local area around the Chichester track, which is one of the most spectacular in the country.
Irish trainers will be sending their charges over to bid for success, and among them, Aidan O’Brien in particular will be looking for some major scores in feature races. The Coolmore trainer is, once again, heavy-handed for the festival with some big Group 1 targets on his radar.
Coolmore Dominates the Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup
Aidan O’Brien missed out on success in last year’s Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup. His leading contender Emily Dickinson, ridden by top jockey Ryan Moore, was found wanting at the finish against winner Quickthorn.
This was a blow for O’Brien, who had seen Moore put in so much hard work to see off the race favourite Courage Mon Ami and main challenger Coltrane. This should have been enough on any other day to have captured the Group 1 title, but it wasn’t, as trainer Hughie Morrison’s 16/1 shot Quickthorn defied the odds by showing a relentless gallop to win by a dominant six lengths.
Coolmore Star Returns
O’Brien has ramped up his chances of landing the 2024 Goodwood Cup, as he lines up an assault on one of Glorious Goodwood’s showpiece races. The gauntlet looks to have been firmly laid down by Coolmore, as returning former champion Kyprios is back in the frame after his 2022 success.
The 2022 Goodwood Cup was one of the most spectacular renewals seen for a long time. It was a deeply talented field, the likes of which may not be seen again for some time. Even the build-up to the Goodwood action was fantastic, as Kyprios had defeated the great Stradivarius in the Ascot Gold Cup the previous month. However, more was made about the loss for Stradivarius than the defining victory of Kyprios, who did deliver the odds as race favourite.
This race was a big breakthrough for Kyprios, who scored in what was his first attempt at the top level, and he would then get a rematch against Stradivarius at the Goodwood Cup, where another great, Trueshan, was also in the picture.
The finish to the 2022 Goodwood Cup should be rewatched over and over again. In what would be his last race, Stradivarius ran his heart out and had a smooth race before putting in an almighty charge in an attempt to reel in Kyprios, who had been brilliantly eased to the front.
Trueshan was already behind the duo, but Stradivarius just kept coming and coming at Kyprios, who only just managed to hang on by a neck for the score – another half a length and the story would have been different.
Can Kyprios Light Up Goodwood Again?
Kyprios didn’t run in last year’s Goodwood Cup because of his truncated season, which saw him only appear twice in the autumn. However, he has been on the comeback trail this season, and with great aplomb.
Scores at Navan and Leopardstown in the spring over Queenstown saw him regain his form before he went to Ascot last month for the Gold Cup. The Coolmore star went off as the 11/10 FAV and duly did what he does best. Once at the front, he never looked like giving it up to score by a length over Trawlerman.
On the back of this resurgence, the six-year-old is the firm odds-on favourite in the 2024 Goodwood Cup market. It leaves everyone else in the ante-post field in double figures, including the likes of Kyprios’ stablemate Illinois, Andrew Balding’s Coltrane, and Alan King’s Trueshan, who is back for another crack.
Deep Attack From Coolmore
Ahead of Glorious Goodwood week, Aidan O’Brien had nine entries listed for the Goodwood Cup. Whether all will run will remain to be seen, but there could be good experience gained by throwing the likes of Grosvenor Square, Gasper De Lemos and the promising Jan Brueghel into the action along with his top three-year-old Illinois.
If nothing else, potentially loading the field in a race that has a maximum of 20 runners (but more than likely no more than 12 on the day) is only going to accentuate the already strong chances of stable star Kyprios getting his second Goodwood Cup crown.
Goodwood Cup Stats
Aidan O’Brien has won the Goodwood Cup three times, having taken the 2006 and 2008 editions with Yeats. However, it’s John Gosden who has dominated a large share of recent Goodwood Cup runs, with four scores in the last seven outings.
Nine of the last 12 Goodwood Cup renewals have been won by the race favourite, with last year’s 16/1 winner Quickthorn a major outlier in those results. His victory last year was the first time in nine renewals that the race favourite (Coltrane) had finished outside the top two (third).
Qatar Sussex Stakes
The tables are turned slightly on Aidan O’Brien for the Sussex Stakes, in that he will be up against a strong favourite in Richard Hannon’s spectacular three-year-old Rosallion, who is the ante-post favourite to score the 1m triumph.
Henry Longfellow is O’Brien’s leading charge for the fixture, and he was only beaten by a neck by Rosallion when they met in the St James’s Palace Stakes (Group 1) at Royal Ascot last month. This was a race at the same distance, so it isn’t totally out of the picture. O’Brien scored last year’s Sussex Stakes renewal with Paddington, ridden by Ryan Moore.
Charlie Appleby’s Notable Speech adds to the competitiveness of this race, and he has been in spectacular form this season. Ralph Beckett holds an outsider entry with Sonny Liston. Ten of the last 12 Sussex Stakes renewals have been won by the race favourite, with O’Brien getting two of those.
Nassau Stakes
For 2024 Nassau Stakes betting, it’s another ante-post leading spot for Coolmore, as the Aidan O’Brien-trained Opera Singer heads the market. The three-year-old put in a big shift at the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot last month, but was beaten by a length by Donnacha O’Brien’s Porta Fortuna.
She won’t be facing that rival at Glorious Goodwood, but there are still a couple of very notable main challengers staring her down. Trainer Ralph Beckett has a big shot in this one with the promising Bluestocking, who has earned excellent scores at York and more recently at the Curragh in the Pretty Polly Stakes this season.
Aidan O’Brien won back-to-back editions of Nassau with Minding and Winter in 2016 and 2017. Donnacha O’Brien followed with a victory in 2020, when Ryan Moore was in the saddle of the second-favourite Fancy Blue, who landed the score. A third of the last 12 winners of Nassau went off as the favourite.
O’Briens Take to Chichester
There will be a spotlight on Aidan O’Brien, of course, with so many leading contenders showing up across the entire Glorious Goodwood Festival. How many wins will Ireland’s leading flat trainer get on the board in the big races?
Goodwood comes immediately after his bid for success in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Group 1) at Ascot on 27th July, where he has Auguste Rodin, Luxembourg and Continuous running.
JP O’Brien will also be in attendance at Glorious Goodwood, with Dancing Tango lined up as an entry in the Lillie Langtry Stakes (Group 2) on the final day of the festival. Uxmal holds an early entry for him in the Goodwood Cup Stakes, as does Lumiere Rock in the Nassau Stakes, so it should be an exciting family affair.
Other Horses and Trainers to Watch Out For
In the build-up to the Goodwood Cup, there is Group 2 action on the opening day with the Vintage Stakes and Lennox Stakes. Aidan O’Brien has a couple of entries in the Lennox Stakes alongside fellow Irish trainers Ger Lyons and Johnny Murtagh. Richard Hannon holds the post-race favourite in Haatem, with Ed Walker’s English Oak and Ralph Beckett’s Kinross Song the leading contenders in what looks like a competitive renewal.
There’s also a competitive field for the Golden Mile, where William Haggas holds a narrow ante-post favourite in Elnajmm. In the King George Qatar Stakes, Irish trainer Adrian Murray’s Bucanero Fuerte is looking to put in a challenge to the ante-post joint favourites Asfoora and Big Evs from trainers Henry Dwyer and Michael Appleby respectively.
The popular Stewards’ Cup is another of the big features to watch out for at Goodwood. Ger Lyons is going after that one with My Mate Alfie.
Glorious Goodwood Racing Betting at Tonybet
Goodwood is a spectacular five-day horse racing festival, which kicks off on Tuesday 30th July with the Chesterfield Cup Handicap. Get all the latest horse racing odds at Tonybet for full coverage of every single race. Find form in our racecards, and keep the Tonybet mobile betting app to hand so that you can easily check the latest updated markets through the build-up to the festival and on race day.
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