Settle in racing fans. The next multi-day feast of action is now firmly on the horizon. Kicking off on Tuesday, 30th of July, and running through to Saturday, 3rd of August, the Qatar Goodwood Festival keeps the good times rolling following the excellent 2024 editions of Royal Ascot and the Newmarket July Festival.
35 cracking contests - and more Panama hats than you can count - lie in wait at the event forever known as Glorious Goodwood. Whether the British weather does its bit to live up to that Glorious moniker remains to be seen, but sun, rain, hail, or snow (surely not), the equine entertainment seems sure to set the pulse racing, with many of this season's star performers on show.
That 35-race menu offers something for all tastes, from intriguing juvenile contests to perplexing handicap puzzles and on to 13 classy events rated at Group 3 level or above.
Those Group class contests are the focus of our attention as we look back at the past five editions (2019-2023) and pick out the trainers, jockeys, and sires who have hit the target with the greatest frequency.
Top Six Trainers
The Newmarket yards had the best record in the Group races at this meeting between 2019 and 2023 - William Haggas leading the way with seven wins. Impressively, those wins came in six different races, with the only event he doubled up in being the Glorious Stakes.
With five wins under his own name and two in partnership with his son Thady, John Gosden comes next. Gosden’s wins came in five contests, with the yard registering doubles in the Lillie Langtry Stakes and Goodwood Cup.
Wiltshire-based Richard Hannon Jr. took sole possession of the third spot, courtesy of wins in the Molecomb Stakes (twice), Vintage Stakes, and Oak Tree Stakes (twice). It may be worth noting that all five of Hannon’s wins came in events over 7f or shorter, and three came in juvenile contests.
Of the trio on four wins, Appleby’s victories came in four different races, as did those of Aidan O’Brien, whilst Charles Hills picked up three of his four victories in the 5f King George Stakes.
2024 Entries
William Haggas
Tiber Flow (Lennox Stakes)
Maljoom (Sussex Stakes)
Coco Royale (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
Sea Theme (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
John & Thady Gosden
Audience (Lennox Stakes)
Sweet William (Goodwood Cup)
Gregory (Goodwood Cup)
Inspiral (Nassau Stakes)
Running Lion (Nassau Stakes)
Laurel (Nassau Stakes)
Crimson Advocate (King George Qatar Stakes)
Free Wind (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
One Evening (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
Sweet Memories (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
Lmay (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
Queen Of The Pride (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
Richard Hannon Jr.
An Outlaw’s Grace (Vintage Stakes)
Rosallion (Sussex Stakes)
Haatem (Sussex Stakes)
Charlie Appleby
Al Qudra (Vintage Stakes)
Aomori City (Vintage Stakes)
Noble Dynasty (Lennox Stakes)
Notable Speech (Sussex Stakes)
Charles Hills
Pogo (Lennox Stakes)
Socialite (Lennox Stakes)
Equilateral (King George Qatar Stakes)
Aidan O’Brien
The Parthenon (Vintage Stakes)
Military (Lennox Stakes)
Kyprios (Goodwood Cup)
Point Lonsdale (Goodwood Cup)
Continuous (Goodwood Cup)
River Tiber (Sussex Stakes)
Mountain Bear (Sussex Stakes)
Opera Singer (Sussex Stakes, Nassau Stakes)
Henry Longfellow (Sussex Stakes)
Everlasting (Sussex Stakes)
Content (Nassau Stakes)
Andromeda (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
Grateful (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
Top Five Jockeys
As the retained rider to the powerful Shadwell Estate, Jim Crowley regularly enjoys an enviable book of rides at this meeting. His wins have come for six different trainers, but eight of the nine came in the famous blue and white silks.
Tom Marquand spread his wins among four trainers, with the lion’s share (five wins) coming aboard runners from the William Haggas yard.
Ryan Moore was the man in the saddle for all four Aidan O’Brien-trained winners, with further successes coming for Richard Hannon Jr, Charles Hills (twice), and Donnacha O’Brien.
50% of William Buick’s victories came for Charlie Appleby and his main employer, Godolphin, with the other three for David Menusier, George Boughey and Francois Rohaut.
Frankie Dettori teamed up with regular partner John Gosden for four of his six wins. The other two came when partnering one of his favourite horses, Kinross, to victory in the 2021 and 2023 editions of the Lennox Stakes for Ralph Beckett.
We await confirmation of the 2024 riding arrangements, but the mounts of Crowly, Marquand, Buick, and Moore are worth a second look when announced. Now based in the US, Frankie Dettori will be watching on with the rest of us.
Seven Super Sires
It is no surprise to see the big names of Galileo and Dubawi towards the top of this list. However, the top spot goes to one of the greatest horses of the modern era – Sea The Stars.
The influence of the brilliant Arc, Derby, and 2000 Guineas winner is evident across a range of distances, but it is interesting to note that three of those six wins have come in events over 1m6f or further.
All five of Dubawi’s wins came over distances of 7f to 1m4f, whilst Galileo’s quartet of victories were all at 1m4f+.
Strong speed influences, Dark Angel and No Nay Never, are next on the list. Three of Dark Angel’s four wins came in the 5f Qatar King George Stakes. Two of No Nay Never’s three came in the Molecomb Stakes over the minimum trip.
Tending to impart stamina into his offspring, Nathaniel produced winners of the Nassau Stakes (1m2f), Lillie Langtry Stakes (1m6f), and Goodwood Cup (2m).
In keeping with the racecourse performance of their sire, all three of Kingman’s wins came at 7f-1m.
2024 Entries
Sea The Stars
Sweet William (Goodwood Cup)
See The Fire (Nassau Stakes)
River Of Stars (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
Sweet Memories (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
Dubawi
Noble Dynasty (Lennox Stakes)
Henry Longfellow (Sussex Stakes)
Notable Speech (Sussex Stakes)
Galileo
Kyprios (Goodwood Cup)
Content (Nassau Stakes)
Grateful (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
Andromeda (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
Free Wind (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
One Evening (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
Dark Angel
Art Power (Lennox Stakes)
Flora Of Bermuda (King George Qatar Stakes)
No Nay Never
Al Qudra (Vintage Stakes)
Mountain Bear (Sussex Stakes)
Nathaniel
Oxford Comma (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
You Got To Me (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
Sumo Sam (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
Kingman
The Parthenon (Vintage Stakes)
Kinross (Lennox Stakes)
Quddwah (Sussex Stakes)
Everlasting (Sussex Stakes)
Laurel (Nassau Stakes)
Sparkling Plenty (Nassau Stakes)
Elmalka (Nassau Stakes)
Two To Back for Trends Fans
When looking at the current list of entries for the Group events at the meeting, a total of 16 horses have the benefit of being sired by one of our top seven stallions AND hailing from the yard of a top five trainer.
Of the 16, the following 12 hold entries in races run over distances at which their sire has excelled in the past five editions:
Andromeda (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
Free Wind (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
Grateful (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
One Evening (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
Sweet Memories (Lillie Langtry Stakes)
Everlasting (Sussex Stakes)
Henry Longfellow (Sussex Stakes)
Notable Speech (Sussex Stakes)
Kyprios (Goodwood Cup)
Sweet William (Goodwood Cup)
Noble Dynasty (Lennox Stakes)
The Parthenon (Vintage Stakes)
The Lillie Langtry Stakes is a strong trainer/stallion trends race this year, as is the Sussex Stakes, whilst clear favourite Kyprios and main market rival Sweet William are solid fits in the Goodwood Cup.
However, there are a couple of races in which only one runner fits the bill. Rather than attempting to choose between the multiple options in the other races, we will open up this year's Glorious Goodwood betting portfolio with the following two punts:
Recommended Bet: The Parthenon to win the Vintage Stakes @ 9/2 with Betfred
Recommended Bet: Noble Dynasty to win the Lennox Stakes @ 7/2 with BetVictor
Paul Harrison
Falling in love with racing at a young age, Paul’s passion for sports and betting took him to Salford University, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Business Economics with Gambling Studies. Having spent ten years in the employment of a leading bookmaker, Paul opted to go it alone and pursue his dream job as a freelance writer.
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