In the absence of sprinting’s stars, Friday’s Group 2, £100,000 King George Stakes at
Glorious Goodwood offers the
opportunity for some of the category’s lesser lights to shine, and Sheikh Suhaim Al Thani’s
Extortionist is one who could still be on the way up.
Last year’s listed
Windsor Castle Stakes winner comes into this drag race on the back of a career-best win in the
July 5 Sandown Sprint Stakes over Friday’s five-furlong trip, and trainer Olly Stevens is hoping for another red-letter
day in the Dandy Man sophomore’s fledgling career.
“He’s in good form and this race was the natural
progression for him, so we’ll see how he goes,” Stevens said. “Going
into every race this year we’ve been mindful of the fact
three-year-olds are up against it in the sprinting division, but he’s done
really well and the form of his last win at Sandown looks
solid.”
Last year’s winner, Moviesta, has been off
the board in all four subsequent starts, with valid excuses
for at least two of those efforts, including when running on unsuitably easy ground when eighth in the July Cup at Newmarket last
out on July 12.
“He’s been a bit unlucky this year — he’s not had his right ground or he’s
had a little niggle,” co-owner Ritchie Fiddes told PA Sport. “He ran a fantastic race at Newmarket, I thought, as he was only 95
percent fit.
There’s a bit more in his favor now, though — he’s working well and we all feel
he’s a better horse than when he won it last year.
“He bruised his foot just before
(Royal) Ascot, which meant he couldn’t run there and then forced him to miss a couple of weeks,
which left him short for the July Cup,” Fiddes continued. “Despite that, I think if the ground was good-to-firm
he could have got in the money.”
One who needs it to rain is Dean Ivory’s Tropics
(Speightstown), who excelled when second in the July Cup and who tries this trip for the first time.
“He’s going there in great form, but I have to be honest and say the ground is a little bit of a
concern,” Ivory, who also trains Tropics, told PA Sport. “I’ll walk the track in the morning
and make a decision from there, but I don’t want to set him alight on fast ground. He’s coming
back to five furlongs, which is a little bit of an unknown, but he seems to have bags of speed and
he’s a horse who can hit the front a little bit too early.”
Kicking off Glorious Goodwood on Friday will be the Group 3, £60,000
Glorious. It is almost two years ago that Encke
brought an end to the Triple Crown dream of Camelot in the St Leger at Doncaster, and with no run in
the interim, the Glorious Stakes serves as a
first step back on track for Godolphin’s still-unexposed
campaigner.
Also denied a short head by Noble Mission in that year’s Gordon Stakes over
Friday’s course and 12-furlong, the Kingmambo bay’s vital experience of this venue will be a major help.
We hope that Encke can show the same enthusiasm and level of ability that he displayed as a
three-year-old,” trainer Charlie
Appleby said. “He is giving all the right signs at home, but you
will never know for sure until he gets on to a racecourse. He is a big
horse and, having been off the course for nearly two years, he
can only improve on whatever he does on Friday. He is not 100 percent, but is fit enough to do himself justice.”
Encke will be tested by the race-hardened performers
Hillstar and Pether’s Moon, who were second and third, respectively, behind
Thursday’s Goodwood Cup winner Cavalryman in the Princess of Wales’s Stakes over this trip
at Newmarket last out on July 10. The latter is another with course form, and Richard Hannon is
hoping he can turn his fortunes around.
“He won here last year, but he has had an unlucky
season and deserves to get his head back in front,” Hannon remarked. “He has only a neck to
find with Hillstar on their running in the Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket, and but for
being switched at a crucial stage our fellow might well have won, so we have to go there
hopeful. He’ll love this fast ground.”
Hannon will also send out Shifting Power Friday in the Group 3, £60,000 Thoroughbred
Stakes at Goodwood. Placed twice at Group 1 level, the sophomore drops down in a bid to return to
his winning ways.
Unbeaten prior to his fourth in the Two Thousand Guineas at Newmarket on May 3,
the Compton Place bay was second in the Irish equivalent at The Curragh three
weeks later and third, before being promoted to second, in Chantilly’s Prix Jean Prat
on July
14.
“Victory here would do wonders for his confidence,” Hannon said. “He is a big horse who has enjoyed a bit of cut in his last two races, but he handled
the faster ground OK when running a blinder in our Guineas,
so, hopefully, the going won’t be a problem.”
Another with Guineas form is Lightning Thunder, who was runner-up in both the English and Irish mile
classics before running below-par when ninth in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot
on June 20.
Godolphin supplies an unknown quantity in Rapprochement, who scored by 11 lengths in a Newmarket maiden over
Friday’s eight-furlong trip in his July 18 debut.
J Wonder takes to Glorious Goodwood on Friday as she bids to get back on track in the Group 3,
£60,000 Oak Tree Stakes. After winning the April 12 Fred Darling Stakes at Newbury over
Friday’s seven-furlong trip, Andrew Rosen’s Footstepsinthesand bay looked to fail for stamina late
on over a mile in both the May 11 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches at Longchamp and June
20 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot.
“Her two subsequent performances in two very high-class Group 1 mile events suggests she should have a very good chance on her return to a Group 3,” trainer Brian Meehan
said of the full sister to this race’s 2011 winner, Chachamaidee, who carries a
three-pound penalty. “We have been very pleased with her in her build up, but she could have
enjoyed better luck with her (widest) draw.”
Another sophomore with potential is Newsells Park Stud’s listed Eternal Stakes scorer Evita Peron,
whose convincing success in that June 28 Newmarket contest came over this trip, but who has
contrasting ground conditions to contend with here, having proven adept on a testing
surface on that occasion.
Unbeaten and tough, Muteela was taken out of her target at Newmarket’s July meeting after the
ground went against her. In the listed Sandringham Handicap at Royal Ascot last
out on June 18, the
Dansili homebred had Queen Catrine and Wee Jean a short head and a half-length behind, respectively, and is worse off by seven pounds with
the runner-up here.
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