Jamie Spencer “I really fancy him particularly on the ground”

I ride the Cashel Man in the first race over 2m5f at 2.00. I really fancy him particularly on the ground. On day one at Goodwood the going will always be good ground, no matter how warm and dry the weather has been, because Seamus Buckley does such a good job. It’s a long week if there’s no rain, so he has to prepare the ground to start the meeting on good going. By day two, if it stays dry, it will be good to firm, and that’s what The Cashel Man wants. He could run on the M4 if they ran races on it. He ran up at Newcastle and hated the surface. He never travelled. I was in close quarters the whole way. He just didn’t enjoy it. I was squeezing and squeezing just to hold a position. This 2m 5f trip isn’t a distance that suits flat bred horses really but I think he’ll stay. He’s by High Chapparal and I think he’s got a really good chance. He’s the one horse in the race that could be better than his rating.

I then ride Al Khan in the last at 5.25. He won off 85 a couple of starts back. He’s got a good draw so hopefully he can hold a position and he might have a place chance.

In the Sussex Stakes at 3.10 I do really like The Gurkha. He’s a good horse and he’s gaining experience. Galileo Gold beat him at Ascot but the pace of the race that day had a huge amount to do with it. It will be an interesting race. At a bigger price Lightning Spear has got a good each way chance. He’s been absolutely bombing at home and looks a million dollars. He’s improved a lot since the Queen Anne but he’s giving the three year olds eight pounds and they’re no slouches. On the fast ground The Gurkha will give them all a run for their money. Galileo Gold has been fortunate so far that the Guineas was run on easy ground and the Irish Guineas on heavy ground, and it rained at Royal Ascot. This will be the first time he’s been tested on a quicker surface and The Gurkha will be way more suited to it. I rode in the French Guineas and it was very quick that day. The only fear for me is the fact that The Gurkha ran in the Coral-Eclipse. When a horse doesn’t really stay, when they get beat it means they’ve got tired and it takes that much more out of them. But Aidan’s horses they’re usually able to recover. They’re the best bred and they’re trained to take it and they usually recover better than anybody else’s. It will be a great race but if I could ride any horse in the race it would be The Gurkha.

Jamie