A maiden auction fillies' stakes over 6f on good to soft ground.
Not the most inspiring of races. Strangely a race with an influx of daughters of Clodovil.
My Solitaire sets the standard with a creditable fourth at Leicester over 5f. This daughter of Clodovil done well from an extreme draw and showed plenty of pace to lead most of the way before losing out in the final half furlong in a tight finish. The form of that race is rather mixed although it is probably no more than fair (Caledonia Lady improved significantly from that race to go close at Royal Ascot this week). Cox does well with his juveniles. Generally, they are consistent and this youngster has fair claims against opposition which have much to prove. She will travel well and is likely to improve for this step up in distance. The most likely winner.
The opposition are a varied buch.
Stellar Express & Zuzu Angel opposed each other earlier this month at Windsor. The form of that race is no more than fair and both need to improve to figure here. That said, they are likely to progress with racing. William Knight's Zuzu Angel was slow away from the stalls and lost her position before running on, showing signs of ability. This grey daughter of Clodovil was by all accounts clueless that day but she is a juvenile with plenty of size and scope and looks the type to win a race at some point. The stable's two-year-olds can improve significantly from their first race and when fancied on their second start feature a good win and place rate. I would definitely favour her over Stellar Express and although needing to improve a good deal from her debut this could be something of a dark horse with each way claims.
Nude ran in a very restricted auction race at Bath last time and that form was no more than moderate. This step up to 6f may help but more may be needed.
Alice's Dancer, trained by William Muir, ran as though she had lost a leg at Lingfield. At present she is 14/1 on the exchanges, which if you had seen her debut would raise some eyebrows. In racing, there is often nothing stranger than two-year-olds making their debut. In fact, sometimes the worse they look, the better they turn out to be. Whether this daughter of Clodovil has ability or not only time will tell. However, Muir is a canny trainer and I can't imagine why he would send this youngster to Goodwood for her second start if she was as 'seemingly' poor as seen at Lingfield. If backed, better should be expected.
Richard Hannon seems to make a habit of winning the two-year-old races at Goodwood. He has stated that he is intent on winning the Dick Hearn Trophy and time after time he sends his better juveniles to this course. For that reason alone Guava should be respected. This daughter of Kyllachy is owned by Middleham Park Racing and cost £30,000. The betting is probbaly the best indicator to her chances and although Hannon's youngsters can be difficult to judge on debut recent course achievements give strong hopes.
Conclusion: A mad looking race in ways. My Solitaire sets the standard and is the most guaranteed to run a race. Cox does well at Goodwood and this filly has pace to sit handy and quite a determined sort. Guava could be the horse to beat. Hannon has sent many of his best juveniles to debut at this course and this looks to be a trend that will continue. I would respect any juvenile they send here. Zuzu Angel is likely to show significant improvement today. Knight has a fair win and place rate with his fancied juvenile on their second start and could go well. Alice's Dancer looked hopeless on debut. If substantially backed, she may be capable of better.
HCE: ''Ground conditions on the change with further rain making this more testing on soft ground. My Solitaire ran on well and managed to prevail over the transformed Alice's Dancer who looked to hold the aces for a stride or two. This performance just shows that anything is almost possible from one run to the next. Stellar Express ran on to take third.''
