Race Time: 2.00pm Meeting: Glorious Goodwood Distance: 2m 5f
Full Race Name:  Victoria Racing Club Goodwood Stakes (Handicap)

Two miles and five furlongs is one heck of a long way on the flat regardless and it will take some stamina to get home on the rain softened going, so we expect there could well be a big priced upset, but who could it be?  Teak (14/1) took the race last year at odds of 33/1 off a handicap rating of 74 with Silvestre De Sousa in the saddle, and as the only course and distance winner (or even distance winner!) in the field he is still worthy of each way consideration, though he runs off a mark a ridiculous sixteen pounds higher this afternoon, so it seems safe to say this won’t be as easy though no doubt James Doyle will do his best to try and steer him home.  If we go looking for a horse in top form ready to add another win to his successful CV then we have to start with Ralph Beckett’s Air Squadron (7/1) who has won all three races this season at distances from a mile and a half to a mile and three quarters. A son of Rail Link, he has tried two miles at Kempton when third to Sabordio when trying to make most of the running and two miles and a furlong when third again at Pontefract when looking as if he failed to get home and it will be interesting to see whether a slower run race will help him – or whether he simply doesn’t stay anywhere near to this far.

Wordiness (12/1) is the other horse in superlative form this season with a total of four wins, a second, and a third from his six outings which is a brilliant return by anybody’s standards, but also one that has seen him climb the weights by twenty-three pounds which is a big hit by any standard. On the positive side his wins have been over two miles or a furlong further BUT they have also all been on good to firm going which he will not get here, while his only two runs on soft and heavy have resulted in some well below par efforts. As a son of Dansili, he seems unlikely to be best suited to any give in the ground but then again, if the rain stays away if may get to good in which case he still has a decent enough chance.

As massive fans of the underrated Alan Swinbank, we were almost forced to have a second look at Aramist (25/1) and he has a better chance than the odds suggest. Admittedly this is a new venture trying a trip of this magnitude, but one thing he does like is to be able to get his toe in to the ground, which still seems pretty likely however fast they claim the track is drying. Although a disappointment at Newcastle on his first attempt at two miles he looked more one paced than a doubtful stayer and if they go a sensible pace on ground he should appreciate he looks sure to put up a bold run with jockey Ben Curtis in excellent and confident form.

Needless Shouting (25/1) may sound like a parental warning but he is also the bottom weight here, which at least makes him interesting over a distance where the weight will surely start to tell? Trained by Mick Channon, his last victory was in a small hurdle race at Plumpton but he has since placed on the flat at Nottingham and Newbury and looks just the sort to make the very most of his feather weight with Franny Norton easily able to do the weight.