Sea Lord to rule in totesport Mile
Those looking to draw conclusions about the totesport Mile, the highlight of the fourth day of the Glorious Goodwood meeting may well be best served by reviewing stalls positions before starting the hours of careful formbook sifting.
In the last five years only one winner - Laa Rayb 12 months ago – came from a single-figure stall and the overall score in that period has only five runners from that end of the draw making it into the first four places, and several of those would have got closer but for their run being compromised by the vagaries of the draw.
Mark Johnston has been the leading trainer at this meeting seven times previously and, although he has been slowly away this time, he reckoned that Sea Lord – who has Group Two entries for later in the season – could be his best chance of the meeting. That sentiment has now been reinforced by Sea Lord being allotted stall 16 in this 21-runner field.
Aside from one poor run in the Britannia Stakes at Royal Ascot, where he did not get much luck in running, Sea Lord has been a model of both consistency and improvement winning twice both sides of that Ascot run. The 3lb penalty that he must carry for his handicap win at Newmarket’s July meeting puts him on a mark of 106, which is 1lb better than his latest handicap rating and his stalls draw gives him the opportunity for Royston Ffrench to be able to dictate the pace. Oasis Dancer could be one for the places from stall 19.
The Rolf Group Stewards’ Sprint, the consolation race for those who did not make it into Saturday’s Stewards’ Cup, may give some indication as to what, if any, draw bias there. The five-furlong handicap run on the third day’s card seemed to favour middle to high numbers and that could suit Victoire de Lyphar in stall 18.
Unbeaten in two runs for David Nicholls, Victoire De Lyphar won a valuable prize at York in June and the form of that run has been working out well. And he looks the type who could progress further for a trainer who has won this race four times in the last 10 years.
The Richard Hannon bandwagon shows no signs of slowing down just yet and Libranno can defy a 3lb penalty in the Group Two Tanqueray Richmond Stakes. He looked impressive when he won the Group Two Superlative Stakes at the July meeting and his maiden win, at Newmarket in May, was franked when runner-up Ecliptic was a good second in another Group Two.
Duncan is a horse who has often threatened to win a Group race and his last run in the Hardwicke Stakes, where he was three-and-a-half lengths by subsequent King George winner Harbinger, shows that this is his chance in the Group Three Coutts Glorious Stakes.
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