Good afternoon folks
Apologies, but with the 1st day’s racing priced up by ALL the books, and with time on my hands which is at a premium for me on Monday, I have had a really good look at the quality opening handicap on Goodwood Day 1 and the one I like strongly is below. That’s all now for sure, back late afternoon tomorrow.
1:50 Goodwood ( Tuesday 30th July)
DUAL IDENTITY – 1 Pt EW @ 22/1 boost Hills 5 places, 20/1 5 places generally
A likeable gelding that has done us many a turn, he looks a big price in this. He has been running well all season and very much caught my eye in the John Smiths Cup LTO from a car park draw he had no chance from. He travelled smoothly as is his wont and was denied a clear run on a couple of occasions before cruising home with more left. That race is a very good guide to this and I like the booking of Callum Shepherd. He rides him well and has a cracking record for the trainer. They should be unbeaten over C & D together in handicaps which is no mean feat. In fact, Shepherd rides this tricky, cambered track brilliantly and has recorded form figures of 1,3,1,3 in handicaps here over this distance from just 4 attempts going back to April 2022!!
He has a seemingly tricky draw in stall 3 but he is usually held up and as we know, this course lends itself to luck and a jockey who can navigate a path through but I am hoping he drops him out and comes late and wide as higher drawn/wider challengers have done very well in this so at a good price, well worth chancing IMO.