Goodwood Cup third Trip To Paris and Vicky.
Another pleasant day in the south and Newmarket is reportedly beautiful as well.
What a race, what a finish. The Goodwood Cup produced one of the most thrilling spectacles of the Glorious meeting in recent years yesterday, and Trip To Paris ran another gallant race under his 4lb penalty to be denied a neck and a short head by two equally progressive rivals.
Of course we would have loved to win again, but our horse probably ran a career best on the figures given the front three pulled clear of an excellent yardstick in Pallasator in fourth.
Plans remain fluid as things stand – obviously Melbourne is very much on the agenda, but we have the Lonsdale Cup, Doncaster Cup, Long Distance Cup, Prix du Cadran and Prix Royal-Oak as possibilities if we wanted to stay in Europe this autumn.
Island Remede was stopped in her run on multiple occasions and the whole race was a non-event.
Red Avenger is our sole representative at Goodwood this afternoon as he tries to defend the Betfred Mile crown he captured last year. He’s 4lb higher this time around and a wide draw will make life difficult, but the drying ground is a plus and he likes a break between races, hence giving him five weeks off after Newcastle. The horse is in good form and we are pleased Graham can ride him again, but he’ll need plenty of luck from out on the wing.
We also saddle two at Newmarket this evening. We are looking forward to getting Justice First back on turf and he has been working well of late. His mark is fair and this is his grade so hopefully he will run well.
Tartoor, a son of Oasis Dream, makes his debut in the mile maiden, which looks to have plenty of depth to it. We will know more about him after this.
No declarations for Sunday but 11 entries for Thursday spread across Brighton, Wolverhampton and Haydock.
So long as England don’t implode, a 2-1 lead in the series looks a shoe-in. This has been some comeback after such a devastating defeat at Lord’s and hats off to the side for showing such character.
For those who love their cricket, the following article is worth a read: http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/903855.html. It fleshes out the premise behind the forthcoming film Death Of A Gentlemen, which explores the murky underworld of cricket politics and administration. Plenty of food for thought.
Back tomorrow.
Ed