Goodwood Stakes – Grade I [BC]
1 1/8 Mile Dirt Stake Purse $300.000 Open 3 Year Olds And Up.
Well, I seem to be writing a lot about surprise winners recently but this time despite a few things which can sometimes lead to surprising winners the result was fairly straight forward. It wasn’t the fast early pace that threw up a crazy late run from a big outsider here but what it did do is make for a rather interesting finish behind the first two home. The official margin between third and last of 12 was two lengths and even that looked generous and I must admit it is finishes like this which are turning into the biggest turn off about the game at the moment. Not that it’s not exciting to see every horse with a chance of a top three finish with a furlong to run but after nine furlongs raced at a very fast pace it did seem to be a ridiculous finish.
Anyway, let’s not concentrate on what looked odd about this race lets concentrate on the clear-cut winner that booked his place in the BC Classic.
1st Charlie Jace Mb Stables Franco M
Well, I have been saying recently just how hard it is to lead all the way or stalk in the sort of opening quarter that this race saw today but that didn’t stop the four-year-old sitting just behind the leader and going on to win very comfortably. I guess the surprise will be that this is his first win of the season after seven races but when you look at the quality of races he has been running in and how well he has been doing it is pretty clear why he was strongly bet on and won so well.
2nd Burger King Team 7 Illusions Corrales G 7.05 21 1:47.83
Didn’t find the front but that was probably just as well as the leaders burnt out at a crazy pace. Instead, he stalked with the eventual winner and these two totally dominated a finish where for some reason every other runner seem to forget they were trying to catch the first two. Lightly raced and only a three-year-old there is plenty more to come from this very progressive looking sort.
3rd= Good Memories Mb Stables Velazquez J R 4.70 3no 1:48.06
I don’t think anyone could look at the ten runners behind the first two and say that the race for third didn’t look just a bit ridiculous. In the end it was just these two that dead heated for third but with 100 yards to run it could have been any of the remaining runners.
3rd= Caveat Emptor High Voltage Centeno D E 41.05 3no 1:48.06
Back from the wide draw and running into a whole bunch of horses spread across the track, well he ended up third in a dead heat, a great effort for a big priced outsider.
Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES