Goodwood’s G2 Ladbrokes Celebration Mile is the centrepiece of Europe’s fayre on Saturday and has drawn a class act in Godolphin’s Benbatl (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). At his best when fresh, the 6-year-old was at his deadliest peak when taking Newmarket’s G2 Joel S. by five lengths over this trip on his European bow in 2019 and sets a clear standard on that form. A triple Group 1 winner in 2018, he gave no indication that he had diminished in terms of ability when winning the Jan. 9 G2 Singspiel S. on turf and Feb. 6 G2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 on dirt at Meydan and when 2 3/4-lengths third in Riyadh’s Feb. 29 Saudi Cup. Goodwood turned heavy on Friday and trainer Saeed bin Suroor is wary of testing ground for him.
“We just need to run him in this race before we make plans. The ground is so important and he wouldn’t want it very soft,” he said. “He’s ready to run–we gave him plenty of time after his last race,” he said. “The QEII will be an option for him, but we ran him in it last year on soft ground and he didn’t like it at all. We’ll see how he is after this and then start looking for nice races, but the one he won at Newmarket last year is an option, the Joel S.”
Testing conditions will also play against Cheveley Park Stud’s Regal Reality (GB) (Intello {Ger}), who was back to winning ways in impressive fashion in Salisbury’s G3 Sovereign S. on Aug. 9 when a combination of a first-time visor and reverting to this trip proved the key. “The intention is to run, but we obviously wouldn’t want too much rain,” the stud’s managing director Chris Richardson said. “He came out of his win well and we were very happy with his performance at Salisbury. I think his ideal trip would be nine furlongs. He doesn’t quite get 10, so a strong-run race at a mile is well within his compass.”
Last of eight in the Sovereign was Duke of Hazzard (Fr)Â (Lope de Vega {Ire}), who was putting in a rare poor effort. Successful in this 12 months ago, Fitri Hay’s 4-year-old had finished runner-up in the seven-furlong G2 Lennox S. here July 28 and Oliver Cole is hoping he can bounce back to that kind of form. “We’ve done a lot of head-scratching as to why he ran so badly at Salisbury and we’ll put a line through that,” he said. “Nothing really came to light, nothing. It was just a bit of a bizarre run, but the only excuse we could possibly think of was that he didn’t really get much cover and probably did too much.”
Also at Goodwood, the seven-furlong G3 Ladbrokes Prestige S. looks set to be a stamina test in the ground for the 2-year-old fillies, which may play against the McMurray Family’s Happy Romance (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) as she moves up in trip. Successful in the five-furlong Weatherbys Super Sprint at Newbury on July 19 and York’s Goffs UK Premier Yearling S. over six on Aug 20, she is into new territory here but Richard Hannon is typically confident. “She is in great nick, but this is obviously quite a smart race. I don’t think going seven furlongs will worry her and I always thought she would get it as she is quite relaxed,” her trainer commented. “She actually hit a flat spot in the six-furlong race at York the other day. I think she should be fine racing just over a week after racing at York, but you never know until a furlong left to run. I don’t think the track will be a problem for her, as she is a well-balanced filly and is very straightforward.”
Khalid Abdullah’s impressive July 19 Newbury novice scorer Pomelo (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) represents the Ralph Beckett stable and is one of two unexposed fillies in the line-up alongside Fitri Hay’s July 11 Salisbury novice winner Prado (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}). “I was very pleased with her work earlier this week and I’m looking forward to running her at Goodwood,” the latter’s trainer Charlie Hills said. “We were going to go to France for the Prix du Calvados, but the ground didn’t look great so we decided to give it a miss. Although she won on firm ground at Salisbury, she should handle a bit of ease in the ground as long as it doesn’t become too testing.”
‘TDN Rising Star’ Cabaletta (GB) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) tackles three opponents including the July 30 G3 Gordon S. third Subjectivist (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}) in the G3 Ladbrokes March S., with Cheveley Park Stud’s homebred having won Newbury’s Listed Aphrodite Fillies’ S. on July 18 and finished second to Enbihaar (Ire) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}) in the G2 Lillie Langtry S. here at the start of the month. “She deserves to be favourite in the race with Enibihaar going on to win the Lonsdale Cup in impressive fashion and I’m hoping for a nice run,” jockey David Egan said. “She is by Mastercraftsman and most of them like a bit of cut in the ground and I don’t think she is any different.”
Windsor hold an inspection in the morning to see if their card which features the G3 Gallagher Group Winter Hill S. goes ahead following torrential rain on Friday. In the main event, King Power’s July 25 G2 York S. runner-up Fox Chairman (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) sets the standard getting three pounds from the Aug. 8 G3 Rose of Lancaster S. scorer Extra Elusive (GB) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) but all of Saturday’s action is open to change with the expected non-runners due to the deteriorating conditions around Britain and Ireland.
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