Qatar Goodwood Festival

Hi all,

After yesterday's look at the Galway Festival. Inside today’s main piece I’m previewing the Qatar Goodwood Festival which gets underway on Tuesday afternoon.

The Qatar Goodwood Festival kicks off this afternoon, with weather conditions set to play a significant role in the racing. The first two days are expected to be hot and sunny, with a possible thundery breakdown anticipated on Thursday. The forecast predicts mainly dry weather on Friday, followed by light rain on Saturday. However, as always with British weather, these conditions could change later in the week.

As of Monday morning, the going at Goodwood was reported as Good, with some Good to Soft patches. With a dry day expected today, the track will quicken up unless the ground staff decide to water it.

My worry is that if they water on Tuesday night and then we get heavy thundery showers on Wednesday night and Thursday, the course conditions could become unpredictable by Thursday. It's always challenging to gauge what the going will be like, but these potential weather changes could add an extra layer of complexity for trainers and punters as the week progresses.

Here’s my overview of the Qatar ‘Glorious’ Goodwood Festival.

Goodwood; History and Background

Goodwood Racecourse, located near Chichester in West Sussex, is one of the most picturesque racecourses in the world. Established in 1802 by the 3rd Duke of Richmond and has since become one of the most iconic racecourses in the UK.

The racecourse is part of the Goodwood Estate, owned by the Duke of Richmond's family for over three centuries.

The racecourse is renowned for its stunning views of the South Downs and the English countryside. The picturesque setting adds to the charm and appeal of the venue.

Glorious Goodwood: The racecourse is best known for hosting the Glorious Goodwood festival, officially called the Qatar Goodwood Festival. This five day meeting takes place annually in late July, early August and is one of the highlights of the British flat racing calendar.

Some of the notable races held during the festival include the Sussex Stakes, Nassau Stakes, and the Goodwood Cup, which are all Group 1 races.

Course Layout

Source: Racing Post

Goodwood is a right handed, unique undulating course. The course is known for its sharp turns, particularly the final bend, which can pose a challenge for horses and jockeys.

Renowned for its distinctive layout, featuring a straight six-furlong course that starts with a slight incline before descending towards the finish line. The five-furlong course one of the fastest in the UK, requires a good start, as a slow getaway can be particularly detrimental to a horses chance.

As you can see it’s not easy to win at Goodwood after a poor start in races over 5f & 6f.

For races over longer distances, the course begins with an uphill stretch but finishes with a sharp downhill descent, making it a challenging track that favours nimble, quick-footed horses over those with a longer stride.

For races over 1m 2f and longer the analysis indicates that the course is fair to all types of runners.

The track's undulating terrain and the sharp downhill finish mean it is particularly well-suited to horses that have previous experience of the course. This familiarity can be a significant advantage.

Qatar Goodwood Festival Trainers

Who are the trainers who seem to get their horses to perform well at the Qatar Goodwood Festival?

I have delved into Horseracebase to find out.

Of those yards with ten or more winners since 2018 the most promising are John & Thady Gosden and Charlie Appleby.

John & Thady Gosden

11 winners from 48 runners 23% -10.38 16 places 33% A/E 1.04.

You can’t back the Gosden runners blind. However, you can tighten things up by focusing on the yards runners racing between 1m & 2m and that had won on the prevailing going.