Glorious Goodwood Day 5 Tips 2023: Our Three Best Bets On Final Day
The weather has caused chaos at Glorious Goodwood in 2023 and after the surface finally dried up to good to soft on Friday, more torrential rain is what lies in store for Saturday. The ground could be anything by the time racing starts and could worsen as the day rumbles on, so picking winners is going to be extra challenging. Nevertheless, Billy Grimshaw is back for the final time this week and has another three tips for us to wrap up the Sussex festival...
The consolation race for the big Saturday handicap the Stewards' Cup brings up the curtain for the final day of Glorious Goodwood 2023 and there are plenty in here who look primed to run a big race. Zaman Jemil is a warm order as 3/1 favourite and with Ryan Moore booked, he is the standout on form and potential terms in here. The problem is, with a price that short in a race like this, he makes little betting appeal. He is also unproven on soft so can be swerved.
I'd rather attack the race by trying to find something at a bigger price to back each-way and it didn't take long to find one that ticks a lot of boxes. COUNT OTTO had seemingly lost his way and had been running very poorly until recently, which saw his rating plummet. Those days are gone now though thankfully and he comes here on the back of two fine wins at Epsom and Windsor with a man in form in Jim Crowley in the saddle. Soft ground will be no concern to Amanda Perrett's charge and hopefully the Nassau winning jockey can continue his good run before his lengthy ban kicks in. Once again BoyleSports are offering an extra place here so an each-way play is the smart move.
This race has a similar shape to the first on the card with uber impressive Newbury winner Sweet William dominating the market and a host of decent horses a fair few points off him. This one I found harder to oppose than the favourite in the race before as he was just so good last time out he could still have bundles in hand despite the seven pound rise. At 9/4 though and with the ground potentially testing as I have mentioned multiple times, I'm inclined to back one with smart form on soft to hit the frame and hope the jolly doesn't fire.
The horse in question is HMS PRESIDENT who has been better than ever since switching to Alan King over the winter. He has won twice and been placed five times from fourteen runs on soft, but it is his form this season that has convinced me he is thriving still and can make his mark on this race. Going down by just a neck in the Duke Of Edinburgh Handicap at Royal Ascot he showed the bonny health he is in and with a win at Goodwood already on his CV, I'd make him best of the rest behind the short priced favourite. Hopefully Sweet William goes sour and our pick can snatch another big race win after his soft ground triumph at Newmarket on his penultimate start.
I'm beginning to feel like something of a parrot with these introductions as for the third race at Glorious Goodwood on Day Five, we have another short priced favourite dominating the market and, you guessed it, I'm taking her on! Free Wind sets the standard in here unquestionably but I don't like the profile of horses like this, who seem just as likely to put their best foot forward as they are to throw in a certified stinker.
Of the rest of the contenders it is RIVER OF STARS who brings the strongest form after her brilliant close second in a Group 3 at Longchamp last time out on soft. Rossa Ryan missed out that day but renews his partnership with the horse here after they won a Group Three at York in late May, and with it obviously being a risk banking on Free Wind bombing out here I think the 9/2 represents fair value about Ralph Beckett's charge who has looked a different proposition at four than she did at three. With eight runners punters could of course take the insurance policy and back her each-way, although I'd be worried about this as with the potential for a downpour, non-runners could come rolling in. I'll back her and tip her win only and hopefully sign off from Glorious Goodwood with a winner.
