/ Joe Szekeres / 27 July 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Frankel is one of the afternoon's three selected bankers - He goes in the 15:10
"Frankel’s victory in the 2000 Guineas ranks as one of the greatest turf performances in living memory and, if he can produce anything near that level, then the rest are playing for second place..."
The placepot at Glorious Goodwood includes the Sussex Stakes and two difficult looking handicaps but Timeform's Joe Szekeres believes he has found the horses to provide a solution...
14:00 - A 19-runner staying handicap looks a difficult place to begin on an exciting afternoon's racing at Glorious Goodwood, but a few may have crept under the handicapper's radar. It pays to respect national hunt trainers in these contests, and Liberate can deliver a late birthday present for Philip Hobbs in the opener after a long absence from flat racing having posted a career-best over fences on his penultimate start. Another fitting a similar profile is the Tim Vaughan-trained Spirit of Adjisa who secured a Grade 1 (novices) victory over timber last time out. These two selections hold good chances this afternoon and should see us through.
14:35 - Last year's winning trainer Richard Hannon dominates the Vintage, fielding four of the seven runners. His best chance is arguably with Chandlery, but he was beaten last time out by our first banker of the afternoon, Red Duke. John Quinn's colt comes into the race under a 3lb penalty but looks progressive enough to overcome the extra weight and confirm superiority over Chandlery, having looked value for a bigger margin win last time.
15:10 - Frankel takes on Canford Cliffs to decide who is the champion miler in the Group 1 Sussex Stakes and the preference lies very much with the three-year-old who is today's second banker. Frankel's victory in the 2000 Guineas ranks as one of the greatest turf performances in living memory and, if he can produce anything near that level, then the rest are playing for second place, including Canford Cliffs who is a top-class miler in his own right but one who will do incredibly well to defeat Frankel conceding 8 lb.
15:45 - Another tricky-looking handicap faces punters in leg four, but the lightly-raced Halifax can put his fifth in the Queen's Vase behind him dropping back down in trip, spared a hard ride by Richard Hughes at Ascot that day as it was clear he was running out of steam. Kieren Fallon is booked this afternoon and Halifax should go close. It would be folly to include just one selection in such a competitive handicap, and another which takes the eye is Four Nations, a winner on his seasonal reappearance over 10f at Goodwood before stepping up to today's trip and finishing second and then fifth. Four Nations came from a long way back on his latest start and, hopefully ridden slightly more positively today, should run well under up-and-coming claimer Kieran O'Neil who takes 3lb off.
16:20 - Diamond Finesse is the third and final banker of the afternoon, having put up a very solid performance on debut, challenging strongly late on against a more experienced rival to lose by a narrow margin. Two winners have emerged from that particular race and Diamond Finesse can make it a third for the Ed Dunlop yard, who rarely have their two-year-olds in peak physical condition first time out.
16:55 - The final race of today's Placepot card is arguably the trickiest leg of all, with the market suggesting that this may be one of the most open contests of the entire meeting, which is why the line-saving tactics were employed earlier. It seems obvious to start with the Timeform top-rated, Common Touch, who was impressive at York on good ground on his penultimate start before disappointing on a seemingly unsuitable soft surface at Royal Ascot. Another who should put up a good show is Zenella. Although she ran below her best when finishing sixth on her seasonal reappearance at Chester earlier this month, this lightly-raced filly should come on for the run and will be thereabouts if showing more like last year's form, which included a listed win. The final selection in the last leg is Golden Desert, one that has slipped down to his lowest handicap mark for almost two years, predominantly due to the fact that he has been racing in the most competitive of handicaps including the Wokingham and the Victoria Cup.
Selections:
14:00 - 9, 10
14:35 - 1
15:10 - 4
15:45 - 3, 12
16:20 - 2
16:55 - 4, 14, 15
= 12 lines
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The never-ending Galway Festival got underway last night and now it's the turn of Goodwood to kick off their Glorious week......
Field sizes at Ayr at today look perfect to land the Placepot with just a few lines, and Timeform's Adam Brookes believes he's found the horses to do the job ......
Today's placepot comes from Pontefract....
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