We’ve had quite a few runners this week at Goodwood, and although the majority of the runners in the handicaps have performed slightly below-par, I’ve certainly been encouraged by the performances of our young horses. Wolf Of Badenoch ran such a good race on Tuesday in the Group 2 Vintage Stakes, and you’d just have to say inexperience in the early part of the race is what caught him out, and Goodwood is a tricky downhill track that can be difficult for younger horses. He gradually warmed to his task and came home very well, and while it was disappointing not to win, it was a very encouraging run, and we have a lovely horse to look forward to for the rest of the season and beyond.

Although everything went wrong for The Waco Kid in the Richmond Stakes on Thursday, he’s another horse who I thought performed with plenty of credit. He was slightly slowly away, then he stumbled and got bumped, so his chance was rather compromised at the start, and then he was just behind the eight ball for the rest of the race, which is really tricky in a contest like this. He did very well in the circumstances though, and he’s proven that he can hold his own in strong company, so I think we’ll step up to 7f with him sooner rather than later, and the future is very bright for him.

We only have the two runners on Saturday, so a slightly quieter day than usual, but hopefully both of them go there with solid each-way chances.

It Ain’t Two drops into handicap company for the first time here, and while it’s a competitive race, she should appreciate the slight ease in grade. She didn’t run too badly in the Super Sprint at Newbury last time, but we just felt that the fast 5f there caught her out, and everything just happened a bit quickly for her. I’m hoping going back up to 6f here will see suit her, and the form of her second at Sandown two starts ago has been given a boost with the winner Aesterius finishing second in the Molecomb this week. 

She does have top weight, but I think her form stacks up well in the context of this race, and it’s a £40,000 race, so it’s well worth having a go while many people’s attention might be over at Goodwood. There are a few nice types in here from some powerful yards, but as I say, she has the form in the book, and I’m hoping she can run very well.

Roman Dragon is a very big price in this, and we know he usually saves his best form for Chester, but he has run well on a straight track before, so I’m hoping he’ll be absolutely fine at Goodwood. We are happy with the draw we selected in stall 25 because we think we are on the right side of the track, and we deliberately chose box 25 because that’s where we won it from with Gifted Master six years ago, so we are hoping for a repeat of that success.

He’s going to need things to go right for him, but there’ll almost definitely be a strong pace on, so hopefully Hayley (Turner) can get some cover and deliver him there to perfection, and they have been going like the clappers there all week on that fast ground, so things might just pan out for him. It’s going to take a career-best I suspect, but he’s proven he can win races off this mark, so although he’s been overlooked in the market, he could just be capable of outrunning his odds.