Our racing expert Ben Linfoot seeks out the value on day four of Glorious Goodwood and he's backing a repeat win for Seniority in the Golden Mile.
Recommended Bets: Glorious Goodwood, Day Four
1pt win Beat Le Bon in 3.00 Goodwood at 12/1
1pt win Seniority in 3.00 Goodwood at 12/1
1pt win Big Brothers Pride in 3.35 Goodwood at 16/1
1pt win Quintada in 5.15 Goodwood at 16/1
For details of advised bookmakers and each-way terms, visit our transparent tipping record
Frankie Dettori could continue his plundering of the top races in Friday’s feature, the Unibet Golden Mile Handicap, at Glorious Goodwood, with Mojito dominating the market after a winning return at Sandown.
That was his first run for 637 days, but he defied his freshness to win well from Escobar, who franked the form with a win at York, a horse that is his closest rival in the betting for this prestigious Goodwood handicap.
It’s no wonder he’s 4/1, then, especially when you factor in the possibility of him getting across and leading from stall nine. If Frankie is allowed to dominate here, he could be difficult to catch.
However, Vale Of Kent looks a key horse tactically. Mark Johnston’s horse also likes to lead and he could well get across from stall 17 and bustle up the favourite.
In that scenario I’d fancy something to pounce from off the pace and the one I like the most is Richard Hannon’s BEAT LE BON (12/1 General) from stall three.
His trainer thinks so highly of him he revealed he thought he’d be running in the Dewhurst at the end of last season, but he’s proven to be more of a slow burner that is only just realising his full potential.
He really shot into the frame for this type of race when winning a good seven-furlong handicap at Goodwood two starts ago, his two-length win over a smart field (recent Ascot winner Flashcard was sixth that day) marking him out as a handicapper to follow.
After that he missed the Britannia due to the ground, but he followed up his Goodwood win with a victory at Haydock, again over seven, responding well to pressure to lead right on the line after travelling well throughout.
Both of his last two wins have suggested that a step up in trip to a mile will unlock further improvement in him and he’s fared well in the draw stakes here.
With the three-year-olds getting 7lb from the older horses here on the weight-for-age scale everything is in place for him to run big and quotes of 12/1 remain fair.
The one I fear is last year’s winner SENIORITY so back him as well at 12/1 (General).
William Haggas’ horse travelled supremely well in this contest last year, defying a bit of trouble in the run by utilising his turn of foot to go through a gap and seal the contest late on.
This year he returns off just a 3lb higher mark but things just haven’t dropped right for him this campaign, post-Meydan blues possibly to blame.
He ran well in second first time back from Dubai at Epsom, where Ryan Moore made more use of him than usual in an attempt to defy stall one, but it resulted in him racing keenly and he did well to finish best of the rest behind runaway winner Gossiping.
After that he was taken out of the Hunt Cup on the day of the race due to soft ground, while he wasn’t seen to best effect last time out at Newcastle on a slower than standard surface.
Still, that looks pretty good form and Seniority finished just ahead of Bedouin’s Story who came out and hosed up in a York handicap last weekend to bolster the Newcastle contest.
Seniority could do that himself on Friday, as he clearly returns to the scene of his greatest triumph in good nick, on ideal ground conditions and from a stall in 11 that could see Moore reproduce a similar ride to the one that proved so successful last year.
Dettori might be stealing all the limelight at the moment, but Moore has a chance here to win a crazily competitive handicap for the fourth year running, something that would momentarily put the Italian in the shade.
The star attraction on the Friday of Goodwood is Battaash once again, the Charlie Hills-trained sprinter aiming to blitz his rivals in the King George Qatar Stakes for the third successive year.
He’s never let punters down at Goodwood, which explains why he’s 1/3 in the betting, but I’m happy to take this horse on at that price in any race given he’s run below form on occasions at Ascot, Longchamp and York.
If the Goodwood Battaash turns up, he’ll win as he likes, but at 1/3 I’m happy to take a punt on him performing below his best and if he does blow out the one I want to be on is BIG BROTHERS PRIDE at 16/1 (bet365, 14/1 General).
Trained by Francoise Rohaut, who is three from five at Glorious Goodwood thanks to his exploits in the Oak Tree Stakes, this €400,000 yearling burst onto the sprinting scene with a blockbuster win in the Group Three Prix Sigy at Chantilly in April, a race won by Sands Of Mali the year before.
She thrived dropping in trip to five-and-a-half furlongs as you can see in the video below, winning by four lengths as she likes after showing blistering speed.
On that evidence she’ll enjoy Goodwood’s sprint track and this half-sister to the high-class Polydream is firmly in the ‘could-be-anything’ bracket.
Oisin Murphy managed to steal the show on an overseas raider on Thursday and he could well do so again here, while the 9lb his mount receives from Battaash helps as well. At 16s the French filly is worth a small bet.
Finally, QUINTADA (16/1 General) is worth backing in the closing TDN Australia Handicap at 5.15.
Mark Johnston’s filly beat Nassau runner-up Mehdaayih on debut but failed to kick on from that as a two-year-old before improving after being stepped up in trip recently.
She likes to lead and did so when winning at Catterick last time out, showing great tenacity and stamina to get back up once headed in a small field of four.
Despite that small field, though, the form looks pretty solid as the second, Bollin Joan, came out eight days later and won at Doncaster.
She’s drawn well here in stall four to attack and there doesn’t look to be an awful lot of pace pressure against her, so Jason Hart could well get the run of things out in front.
We know how dangerous Johnston horses are in that situation, so the generally available 16/1 looks more than fair.
Ben Linfoot's Value Bet aim: The Value Bet is designed to generate long-term profit by searching for overpriced horses in the feature weekend races and at the big Festivals in the UK and Ireland. Running total: +364.19pts to advised stakes/prices (from inception of Value Bet column in January 2010 to current).
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Posted at 1700 BST on 01/08/19.
