Goodwood Day 2

Hoping This 40/1 Shot Can Soar To Victory In The Sussex

NAP – Mighty Spirit 4:10 Goodwood 5/2

My Nap of Goodwood’s Day 2 Meeting is Richard Faheys Mighty Spirit in the European Breeders Fund Alice Keppel EBF Fillies’ Condition Stakes. John Dance’s daughter of Acclamation is on the verge of becoming frustrating, but her form stands out in the context of this race putting up some big performances in recent starts including 6th in the Queen Mary behind Raffle Prize and 3rd in the Weatherbys Super Sprint. She really ought to have won at Beverley in-between those runs when a strong proposition to do so, but if you can put a line through that run, she would have every chance of winning here if bringing her best form to the table.

Charlie Hill’s Flippa The Strippa looks the main danger but Mighty Spirit finished 2 places ahead of her in the Queen Mary at Ascot and with 3lb penalty to shoulder from a listed race win in May, she has a work cut out to reverse those placings here. P J Mcdonald takes the ride here, who has been in cracking form recently and the door looks open for Mighty Spirit to break her maiden tag here. 5/2 looks a fair enough price to me

NB (Next Best) – I Can Fly 3:35 Goodwood 40/1

My NB comes in the shape of I Can Fly in the Qatar Sussex Stakes. Aidan O’Brien’s daughter of Fastnet Rock is a filly that has promised a lot in her career, with just hitting the crossbar in major group 1’s in open company and her own sex. She is a difficult horse to predict but she is bound to pop up in one of these races before long and with the dead 8 runners, she is a cracking each way price to run a big race on Wednesday afternoon. Tuesday’s rain that arrived at Goodwood could help her as her best form has been shown with some cut in the ground, including when just a neck second to Roaring Lion in last year Queen Elizabeth stakes on Champions day last October. If she can bring anything like that form to the table, she has every chance of shaking up the market principals here.

Her main danger could be her stablemate Circus Maximus (seemingly the choice of Ryan Moore) but with doubts about the strength of the St James Palace form where he had the race run to suit he could be worth taking on. The same can be said about the other three year olds, with Too Darn Hot not looking the invincible being he once looked as a two year old. As with Phoenix of Spain who put in a bad run behind a superb reappearance in the Irish Guineas.

40/1 in a place looks great value for this filly who is the ride of Donnacha O’Brien, and hopefully she can give us a decent run for our money at a huge price.