Rebel Soldier goes To war in Gordon Stakes
Glorious Goodwood opens its gates to racegoers on Tuesday for five days of top class action. The opening day features three group races, the first of which is the Gordon Stakes at 2:45pm GMT. Some outstanding individuals have won this race in the past, most notably last year when Harbinger easily defeated eight rivals in scintillating fashion. This season he has gone on to land the King George and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes at Ascot and therefore this year’s winner of the Gordon Stakes is perhaps like Harbinger likely to go on to better things.
Judging by the betting, the contest looks wide open but the one to picked could be the Jamie Noseda-trained Rebel Soldier. He is a lightly raced three-year-old by Danehill Dancer and has clearly taken some time to develop as he was unraced as a juvenile. His debut came in an ordinary looking maiden at Lingfield back in February but he created quite an impression when winning it very convincingly. Having led at the furlong marker, he came away from his field with such ease even his jockey looked surprised.
In a bid to follow up that success, he contested a decent handicap at Newbury where he was a well-backed favourite to make it two from two. However, held up early on, he found little response to his jockey’s urgings and finished a very disappointing seventh behind Meezaan.
On the back of that run, it came as something of a surprise to see him upped in class and trip last time for a valuable handicap at York. Enough people clearly thought he was ready to put his lacklustre effort behind him as punters backed him off the boards. He rewarded his supporters with a stunning performance too. With different tactics employed, he made all the running and quickened three furlongs from home. His rivals had no answer to his superb turn of foot and he came away to win by eight lengths from Bonfire Knight.
This is obviously a much stronger contest, but on that last effort, he looks up to the task. His trainer has one of the best records at this venue having notched 14 winners here in the past five seasons, with a strike rate above 20%. Favourites also have an outstanding record in this race so market support for him would be significant.
Arctic Cosmos
His market rival, and probably his most noteworthy opponent is Arctic Cosmos, trained by John Gosden. On official ratings, this son of 2004 Derby winner North Light, is currently the best horse in the race. His run last time when finishing runner-up to Monterosso in the King Edward V11 Stakes at Royal Ascot is the best form on paper, and was a massive improvement on what he had achieved previously.
Some decent horses finished behind him that day and there could be more to come. One slight concern would be that his two victories so far in his career have both come on an all weather surface. Looking at the dam side of his pedigree, it is predominantly an American bloodline, which usually favours dirt surfaces. With this in mind, he may well be worth opposing under these conditions, especially at the likely odds.
Dandino a dandy?
One that could easily get into the argument here is the James Given trained Dandino. A three-year-old Dansilli colt, he has had a terrific year so far winning all four of his contests and showing improvement on each occasion. His best effort undoubtedly came last time at Royal Ascot, where he showed great determination to fend off the challenge of London Stripe and win the King George V Stakes. A reproduction of that run puts him in with a chance here and he will be hard to keep out of the frame.
Tags: