With less than one week until the 2016 Qatar Goodwood Festival gets underway, it is time to start checking the runners and riders as formal declarations start to come in. The best flat racing thoroughbreds in the business will go toe-to-toe with each other in a number of the most prestigious races in the sport – and plenty of punters from all over the United Kingdom will travel down to Sussex for five fabulous days of exhilarating action.
This year, Glorious Goodwood could finally attract as much media attention as Royal Ascot – and rightly so. Goodwood is a magnificent racecourse but Ascot seems to be the main focus of attention in the wider media. However, that could all change; especially with huge sums of prize money on offer – there’s been a huge rise since Goodwood signed a sponsorship deal with Qatar. If nothing else, it could be a lucrative week for those trainers, jockeys and owners who are at the very top of the sport.
And that means Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore could enjoy plenty of success at this week’s festival. This lethal duo have combined for a plethora of victories at major meetings already this year and MINDING could be one of the bankers of the festival. At the time of writing, Betway’s horse racing odds give 8/15 on O’Brien’s filly to romp home in the Nassau Stakes and it would take a brave man to back against her. She has finished in the top two in all nine of her competitive appearances so far…
In a way, the O’Brien-Moore combination at Goodwood could emulate the Mullins-Walsh duo’s success at the 2016 Cheltenham Festival. O’Brien is widely regarded as the best flat racing trainer whilst Ryan Moore is perhaps the best jockey in the business. As a dual threat, their record is exceptional and it’s hard to see Minding falling short. Without a shadow of a doubt, she is our main tip of the week and on form, their odds are great – although Betway’s horse racing odds of 8/1 on Alice Springs are also appealing.
There will be plenty of great horses in action but MINDING remains a class above the rest of the field in the Nassau. She is a phenomenal young filly and the Moore-O’Brien duo will be expecting nothing less than victory in this particular race. Only time will tell but Minding could be the quality act of the festival and a dominant performance would be the perfect way to round off what could be an immense week of breath-taking racing.