16/1 outsider can upset the Gold Cup runners

Another brilliant Glorious Goodwood meeting gets underway on Tuesday. The card on day one is headlined by the Group One Goodwood Cup, a race that has been won by all of flat racing's most famous stayers.

To win an Ascot Gold Cup on just her fourth career start was no mean feat, so Courage Mon Ami has to be massively respected. 

John and Thady Gosden's mare has won twice on the all-weather and twice on fast turf. The ground on Tuesday will be gluey, holding and testing, something Courage Mon Ami has never faced before. With doubts about the ground hanging over her, and ten quality rivals stacked up behind the favourite in the betting, I'm happy to take Frankie Dettori's mount on.

Coltrane won't mind the testing nature of the ground at Goodwood. Neither will Emily Dickinson, who remains a four-year-old filly on the upgrade. At the prices, though, I'm most tempted by QUICKTHORN (16/1), who's recent win at York seems to have been undervalued.

Hughie Morrison's charge burst onto the scene in 2021, winning the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes on heavy ground before a head-defeat in the Ebor. Last season, Quicktorn notched up three straight victories during the middle part of the season, making all to win the Henry VII Stakes and the Prix Maurice de Nieuil, before that resounding front-running success over Coltrane in the Lonsdale Cup.

After a good fourth on his reappearance behind Giavellotto in the Yorkshire Cup, Quickthorn returned to winning ways by beating the talented Israr in the Grand Cup Stakes. Israr has since boosted that form with an emphatic Group Two triumph at Newmarket. True, that success came over a shorter distance, but I didn't think Israr wilted in the closing stages of the Grand Cup, he was just beaten by a stronger stayer.

Quickthorn is a winner on both firm and heavy ground. Tom Marquand's mount tends to do his best work at this time of year and, while this will be his first start at Goodwood, winning form around Ascot, Sandown and Longchamp gives me plenty of hope that Quickthorn will relish this unique track.