5.15pm Goodwood Tips & Betting Preview 01/08/2017

An intriguing mile handicap for fillies and mares sees a range of twenty-one pounds between top and bottom according to the ratings, but this is Goodwood and every runner will be flat out to try and bring home the £16,173 available to the winner – read on for our full race preview for the 5.15pm at Goodwood today.

IN SUMMARY: Plenty of in-form horses to choose from with seven of them a winner last time out, including the James Fanshawe trained TRIBUTE ACT who is looking to land her hat trick here and has every chance to do so. She can come home in front of top weight Lincoln Rocks and the interesting Pretty Asset here in a race well worth watching.

1 LINCOLN ROCKS – Top weight may not be able to stop the four-year-old daughter of Rock Of Gibraltar who is in the hands of David O’Meara who is a trainer rising up through the ranks. Admirably consistent all season he has raced seven times so far for wins at Musselburgh and Pontefract (in Listed class) and has always finished in the first four home giving him the look of an each way contender here at the very least. Caught close home by Soul Silver at Newbury last time out over this trip she carries two pounds more here but she should still go well while in this sort of form and has already proved she can win in more exalted company.

2 AMABILIS – A winner last time out for trainer Ralph Beckett and with the added bonus of Ryan Moore in the saddle. Only a youngster at the age of three, the daughter of Champs Elysees returned on the all-weather at Chelmsford with an impressive three and three quarter length success in a Class Two handicap over a mile so is effectively dropping in class, but she has been put up a punitive nine pounds for that eased down victory. The softer going may be an issue but she could still run well if improving for that race.

3 SOUL SILVER – Three pounds worse off with Lincoln Rocks for three quarters of a length and ought to struggle to confirm that form on these revised terms. She seems sure to be dwarfed by some of these in the paddock but likes a battle and won’t finish far away from the top weight. Trainer David Simcock has had four winners from his last twenty-eight runners for a 14% success rate and others appeal more in this field though she does have the ability to handle the going in her favour.

4 PRETTY ASSET – One run and one win in a Newmarket maiden and making her handicap debut this afternoon. Hard to gauge on her two and a quarter length defeat of Awfaa with none of those who finished behind her running since to frank or decry the form. Sure to improve for the experience and could be anything, but seems high enough in the weights on what she has actually achieved so far. Trainer Charlie Appleby is in great form (30% strike rate), and she could well challenge for the places.

5 TRIBUTE ACT – Three wins from four starts for the James Fanshawe trained filly and she is on the upgrade race on race, which can only increase her chances of landing the hat trick. Last time out she won a Class Four at Doncaster with a bit in hand, and a five pound rise in the ratings looks more than fair and justifies her step up in class. The stable are ticking over nicely with a 12% strike rate in the last two weeks while jockey Tom Queally gets on well with the daughter of Exceed And Excel which is an added bonus. After her last run Tom said “They didn’t go the pace I’d have wanted and Tribute Act jumped quicker than she did last time so that put me where I wasn’t expecting to be so I found I had to rein her back. Thankfully she’s got form over shorter and James trains them to quicken so I knew I wasn’t in trouble from that point of view. I think she’s a talented filly going forward, she’s taken every step up the ladder quite well so far. She had a lot of heart when it mattered”, all encouraging signs when it comes to this contest.

6 QUEENSBRYDGE – Newmarket trainer Robyn Brisland is anything but a household name but the stable are in good heart with two winners from their last six runners for a 33% success rate. A daughter of Dutch Art, she did win a Class Two Conditions Stakes by a head from Soul Silver as a two year old but nothing more in eight races and although likely to strip race fit for her return sixth at Haydock following nine months off the track, winning this is a big ask unless she can repeat her better efforts of close to a year ago.

7 GHADAAYER – Champion jockey Jim Crowley rides for Sir Michael Stoute as the daughter of Shamardal looks to make it three out of four for the season. Her only run on a softer surface saw a below par eighth at Leicester but that was as a juvenile and she looks a different beast this season. last time out she ran on strongly despite rival intimidation to win by a neck over this trip, but has been put up four pounds for that win. After her last win jockey Dane O’Neill said “She is gutsy and honest and you can’t ask for more than that. Ghadaayer has been very consistent and she’d probably get a mile and a quarter as she was only getting going hitting the rising ground in the final furlong”, suggesting a fast run race will suit her needs, and if she keeps on improving, she won’t be far away today.

8 SHENANIGANS – yet to win this season after three starts but looked to be peaking with a head second to Tribute Act at Doncaster last month. She meets the winner on two pounds better terms which may well see her turn that form around granted the rub of the green, and with trainer Roger Varian in great form with ten winners from their last thirty-nine runners (26%), she looks a major player despite the competitive nature of this race.

9 SAYEM – Another entry looking for her hat trick here after wins at Windsor on a Class Five handicaps followed by a Class Four. The daughter of Sayif has been put up another seven pounds for a two and three quarter length win from High On Love last month and as this is a step up in class this looks a big ask. Jamie Spencer rides for trainer Ed Walker with both jockey and trainer in acceptable if not spectacular form (15% and 14% respectively), and after just the seven races she may well have even more to offer.

10 HADEEQA – Lightly raced for Simon Crisford with one maiden win from four starts so far, and that a dead heat over a mile and a quarter. Last time out she finished a ten length eighth to Standing Rock over ten furlongs at Salisbury when slowly away and weakening late so she is dropped back in trip here and has a hood added for the first time, presumably to help her focus. As a daughter of Cape Cross she is bred to get further and as she is yet to tackle ground with any cut in it, she is difficult to recommend this afternoon.

11 AL NAFOORAH – Ed Dunlop’s filly seems to be on the upgrade lately and scored by a length and a quarter over slightly further on similar ground at Nottingham last time out. She has to carry a six pound penalty for that win which may yet stop her in her tracks, and she will clearly need to improve again to take a hand this afternoon.

12 DARKROOM ANGEL – Moved stables from Clive Cox to Philip Hide and won her first two races for her new connections, at Brighton over the mile and then here at Goodwood over a mile and a quarter. Put up six pounds for her last win she has struggled twice since when failing to see out the mile and a half here at Goodwood and then over the ten furlongs at Epson when beaten less than three lengths. Whether she has the speed for the mile in this sort of company seems open to question, and with her best form on faster going, it is hard to make a case for her here.

13 ANGEL’S QUEST – Still a maiden after five starts but jockey turned trainer Richard Hughes is nobody’s fool and will have had good reason to enter her here. A daughter of Dark Angel, she ought to be happier on faster ground than she may face here and finished a well beaten fifth, six lengths behind winner Sayem at Windsor in lower grade, and left on the same rating today she looks to have very little chance of breaking her duck.