Good morning all,
What a strange old month it’s been. As one correspondent commented last week, my tipping for the Daily Punt has been woeful. Yet, Victor Value subscribers are 65pts up since June 25th and added 13pts to the betting bank on Friday & Saturday. Just at the right time for Goodwood & Galway. I just don’t seem to put the right ones up for the readers of this column. Hopefully I can put that right between Tuesday & Thursday as I will be concentrating on Goodwood with the odd nod to racing across the Irish Sea.
Inside today’s main piece you can read my thoughts on the King George & Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes. Plus, there's a full race preview of the feature race of day one at the Galway Festival.
Crowds Return in Numbers
The crowds returned to British racecourses in large numbers for the first time since the Cheltenham Festival on Saturday. There were 14,000 in attendance at Ascot and 30,000 at York and it was great to see everyone enjoying themselves.
The King George & Queen Elizabeth has traditionally been one of the highlights of the mid-summer flat season. This year’s race saw only five meet the starter but it was a vintage renewal of the race with a genuine clash of the generations.
The forecast thunderstorms didn’t materialise at Ascot. Which meant Wonderful Tonight was a late defection from the big race. It had been 20 years since Galileo became the last Derby winner to win the King George. Adayar this year’s Derby winner was sent off the second favourite to emulate his grandfather’s success.
Adayar To Remember
Broome pacemaker for stablemate and race favourite Loveblew the start. That meant the first two furlongs saw a keen Adayar and Lone Eagle disputing the lead. Broome was rushed up to get to head of affairs and that ensured there was a good gallop. It also helped William Buick to settle the second favourite just behind the leader.
Two furlongs from home the big powerful Derby winner went for home. Despite those early exertions he still had enough left in the tank to hold off Mishriff with Love only third.
Mishriff was given a good hold up ride. He was within a length of the winner at the furlong mark but couldn’t make any further inroads in the final furlong. He was just outstayed by a stronger stayer and will likely return to 1m 2f for his next start.
Love was beaten on merit on the day. However, I don’t think she ran to her best and she did carry her head awkwardly between the final two furlongs. Maybe she was feeling something?
Broome had nothing more to give when headed by Adayar and ran as well as could be expected given he had to be pushed up to get to the front.
Lone Eagle was the disappointment of the race. Having run so well against Hurricane Lane in the Irish Derby this seemed a flat effort by the colt.
Ground seems to be irrelevant for the winner, a grand stamp of a horse? It’s going to be interesting to see where Adayar heads next. Connections have Hurricane Lane and I still don’t know which is the best of the pair. You would think he will head for the Arc with Hurricane Lane likely to go for the St Leger.
A compelling race, with a good winner and it was good for racing that this year’s Derby form has been given another boast.
Monday Racing
It’s the start of six days at the Galway Festival with Goodwood joining the party tomorrow. Goodwood had 30mm of rain yesterday turning the going from good to good to soft. There could be more showers at the Sussex track today. However, the forecast for the rest of the week is more promising with plenty of dry weather and just the odd shower.
Galway have been doing plenty of watering in anticipation of its big meeting of the year. The meeting will begin on good ground but more rain is forecast for the rest of the week so you can expect the ground to ease.
There will just be 1,000 spectators in attendance each day but at least its better than last year which was held behind closed doors. There’s a seven-race card at Galway with the feature race being the Connacht Hotel (Q.R.) Handicap (6:15) which has €59,000 on offer to the winner.
Galway
6:15 – Connacht Hotel (Q.R.) Handicap – 2m 1f
Run For Mary was a ¼ length 2nd of 20 to Princess Zoe in this race last year. The mare can race off the same mark this time around and must be high on the shortlist after making a winning seasonal return at Limerick last month. Get’s the first time cheekpieces and if the headgear has the desired effect, she must have a decent chance of going one better. That said stall 21 won’t be easy to overcome.
Litterale Ci was a 2 ½ length 3rd of 20 in the race in 2019. She doesn’t come into the race in much form but is 5lb lower than two years ago and gets the addition of the first time cheekpieces.
Dermot Weld and Willie Mullins have won this six times between them since 2008. The former saddles the unexposed Colter who races in the reapplied visor and first-time tongue tie after a disappointing return to the flat at the Curragh (7/2) in May. He races off a mark of 83 here and remains open to improvement.
Zoffanien a 143 rated juvenile hurdler is having his first start on the flat since leaving France. He finished 4th of 9 in the Grade 1 Juvenile Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival last time. If he can translate his hurdles improvement to the level, he would be a well handicapped horse. Stall 18 isn’t the best but he remains high on the shortlist.
Mullins Likely Holds The Key
Mullins saddles six of the twenty runners. Patrick Mullins opts for useful hurdler Hook Up, that could be significant and she’s open to more progress on the level. Exchange Rate won a maiden here at the 2017 festival and was only beaten 1 ½ lengths into second in the 2018 November Handicap at Naas. The 9-year-old returned from a 945-day break to finish 4th of 9 to stablemate My Sister Sarah at Listowel 50-days ago. Entitled to come on for that run and is nicely handicapped on his best form. Jockey Jodie Townend won this in 2019 for the yard. My Sister Sarah a 141 rated hurdler has been raised 10lb for her Listowel win but remains on a competitive flat mark compared to her hurdles form. A good stamina test will suit her and Jamie Codd is in the saddle.
Verdict: It’s hard to look beyond the Mullins contingent with My Sister Sarah just edging it for me. Zoffanien could be worth a saver despite his wide draw.
Galway Selection:
6:15 – My Sister Sarah – 13/2 @ Bet365 & Paddy Power
The rest of my Galway preview and of course selections can be found here
Good luck with your Monday bets.
John