Back an upset in the King George
Published:
Friday’s selections at Goodwood
Winter did what was expected of her on Thursday, scooting up in the Nassau Stakes to delight favourite backers. O’Brien’s star filly landed a fourth group one on the bounce, making a mockery of pre-race concerns over her ability to handle the trip.
Moving onto Friday’s card and we aim to send you into the weekend with a winner or two. Flick through our race-by-race selections detailed below, picking out your favourites, or read on as we discuss the thinking behind our NAP.
Favourite doesn’t convince
Friday’s schedule gets started with the group three Glorious Stakes, contested over 1m 3f. We have Lord Yeats marked down as the winner of that, but our ace lines up in the headline act, the King George Stakes, due to post at 3.35pm. Check out what our resident bloggers, Jim Crowley and Kieron Fallon, think of the day’s racing also.
A group two contest, the snappy five furlongs sprint distance lies ahead of a talented dozen-runner field, headed in the betting by Clive Cox’s Profitable, currently trading as 5/2 jolly. The five-year-old is undoubtedly a class horse, but he’s far from bulletproof, and following a week of upsets, we cast our eye further down the list in search of value.
Marsha arrives in form
Looking for a selection at a bit more of a price and we settle on Marsha as our tip of the day, currently available at 11/2. Third favourite, the Sir Mark Prescott trained four-year-old filly arrives at track with an eye-catching CV, finishing in the top three in each of her three previous runs this year, including a win at Newmarket in the Longholes Palace House Stakes.
Despite going off as an 8/1 outsider, she delivered the goods, squeezing out race favourite Washington Dc by a neck, driving for the line to hold off a late challenge. It was a gutsy display, and she won plenty of admirers that day. That success came over the 5f trip, and we’re expecting a similar effort here.
NAP will take to the ground
Since that win at Newmarket in May, she was third at Royal Ascot in the King’s Stand, and second behind Caspian Prince around the Curragh in the Sapphire Stakes last month. Odds on favourite, she let punters down, but considering she was beaten a short-head, caught on the line, we’ll forgive her that slip-up.
There are slight questions marks over her ability to handle the ground, and that may be the reason she’s not a bit shorter in the betting, but we don’t make it too much of a problem. If Marsha performs to the level we know she’s capable of, then she’ll outrun her price.
Goodwood selections
1.50 – Lord Yeats
2.25 – Make Time
3.00 – Master The World
3.35 – Marsha
4.10 – Rufus King
4.40 – Al Jazi
5.15 – Londinium
Previews and betting tips on the biggest races – click here
