Equinties - King Goliath

Gm Equinauts

Glorious Goodwood week, lfg!

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUNDUP

GOLIATH CROWNED KING

Who? What? Why? How?

You would be forgiven for using one of these four words on Saturday afternoon at about 15.43 as GOLIATH, one of the rank outsiders, won the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

With an SP of 25/1 and having been comfortably held by ISLE OF JURA in the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot, many put an immediate line through him in their morning papers.

And they were probably right too as well. The Francis-Henri Graffard-trained four-year-old had only put up a career-high RPR of 115 and only made his debut 14 months ago.

But the history books will forever know GOLIATH as a facile winner of the 2024 renewal despite the inclusion of BLUESTOCKING, AUGUSTE RODIN, LUXEMBOURG, REBEL’S ROMANCE, DUBAI HONOUR, and MIDDLE EARTH. His final few furlongs, and the ease at which he sauntered to the head of affairs, was certainly a sight to behold.

One of the big things to come out of the race was this interview with Aidan O’Brien talking about the ground in relation to AUGUSTE RODIN.

The King George was run 2.27s faster than standard, however, all six of the other races on the card were slower than standard and the one-mile handicap two races later was a full 5.19s slower.

Timeform have backed up Chris Stickels’ official going description, but the choice to water throughout the week potentially caused the top of the ground to ride a bit dead which has caused O’Brien’s frustrations.

As David Johnson at Timeform rightly says, it wasn’t Royal Ascot-esc fast ground, but it looks like good ground based on times.

Maybe the vicious sectionals set by HANS ANDERSEN, and the fact that AUGUSTE RODIN sat in third and fourth for much of the race, is why Ballydoyle’s star failed to perform?

So, how does this affect the rest of the Flat season? Well, in all truth, it probably doesn’t.

The Lads are still thinking about the Japan Cup for AUGUSTE RODIN, BLUESTOCKING will probably head to the Yorkshire Oaks, and GOLIATH may need to put in another top performance to cement his place as a top Group 1 performer.

NOT SO FRIENDLY

FRIENDLY SOUL now has a record of 1171 after her three-length success in the Group 3 Valiant Stakes on Saturday, and the manner of her win was impressive.

Kieran Shoemark guided the three-year-old by KINGMAN to a front-running success at Ascot, leaving behind her poor effort at York which had connections scratching their heads.

The Gosden team were actually thinking of the Prix de Diane for her until she was heavily beat at York, so that shows how much they think of her.

So, that leads us on to where they may go with her now. She has an entry for the Arc (!) and her dam, IN CLOVER, is a Group 3 winner, so she could well be heading off to some top targets.

The fact she won over 1m2f three starts ago opens up the possibility of the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare over 1m3f at the end of the year, but the British Champions Fillies & Mares could also be an option.

She’s a good horse who has a great piece of form with KALPANA, so she should be feared.

WEEKEND EYE-CATCHERS

ZOUZANNA – FRIDAY 15.00 ASCOT

Starting with the action that occurred on Friday, ZOUZANNA could be the type who will be worth following for the second half of the season.

Harry Charlton has campaigned this four-year-old by ZOUSTAR with some confidence as she ran six times at three and already has four runs under her belt this season.

She is a half to WIN O’CLOCK who achieved an RPR of at least 100 seven times for Harry Charlton, so they know the family and probably think she can run better than her mark of 82 suggests.

As for her Ascot run, she travelled nicely behind horses and had to switch to the outside before making her charge to the line. With a slightly easier passage through her next race, she could well get her head in front.

TALES OF THE HEART – SATURDAY 13.50 ASCOT

With a lack of cover on the front end, TALES OF THE HEART can be upgraded for her third in the Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes.

She didn’t break the best but was quickly rushed into a prominent position by Rossa Ryan where she settled down.

With the eventual 1-2-4 (SIMMERING, BETTY CLOVER and MANDURAH) sat towards the rear, she travelled well and didn’t fade away like ALICE FAIRFAX which is a positive.

Her full brother, CALTURRA, was a precocious two-year-old and got better as the year went on, so she could easily do the same.

BEYOND BORDERS – SATURDAY 16.05 CHESTER

Pierre-Louis Jamin had to explain to the stewards why he was stood up in the irons on BEYOND BORDERS as they crossed the line, but watching through the race, it’s easy to understand why.

To our eye, the three-year-old by HARRY ANGEL was inconvenienced five times, most of which by the second MATTERS MOST.

When Jamin went to move left, MATTERS MOST moved left. When he went to the right, so did MATTERS MOST.

By the time he was away from his rear end, he was stuck in a sandwich and couldn’t get by, so he is definitely one for the trackers off a mark in the low 80s.

RISK ON

Nearly cancelled today to save the bank for Glorious Goodwood but there is one horse who is attracting good market confidence…

16.00 GRAND KARAT

Nice 2yo and his come back run at Newmarket was okay. He slipped at the start at Sandown and his mark could be lenient. 9/4 a small play.

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