Weights are revealed today for the two most valuable handicaps staged during the Qatar Goodwood Festival – the £250,000 Unibet Stewards’ Cup (Saturday, August 3) over six furlongs and the £150,000 Unibet Golden Mile (Friday, August 2).
The 111-rated Mr Lupton, one of 15 entries for North Yorkshire trainer Richard Fahey, heads the weights on 9st 11lb for the Unibet Stewards’ Cup. Successful in the G2 Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh, Ireland, in May, Mr Lupton is a 20/1 shot with race sponsor Unibet.
Progressive four-year-old Flavius Titus (8st 13lb, Roger Varian) is the 12/1 market leader with Unibet after defeating Louie de Palma (8st 10lb, Clive Cox, 20/1) in a six-furlong Newmarket handicap on June 8, his second success from three starts in 2019.
Newbury Listed victor Khaadem (9st 3lb, Charlie Hills), lightly-raced three-year-old Victory Day (8st 6lb, William Haggas), recent Newcastle scorer Staxton (9st, Tim Easterby) and 2018 Great St Wilfrid Handicap winner Gunmetal (9st 3lb, David Barron) also figure prominently in the betting at 14/1.
Other classy performers near the top of the weights include Major Jumbo (9st 9lb, Kevin Ryan, 20/1), runner-up in the G2 Duke of York Stakes on his penultimate start, and 2018 G1 Commonwealth Cup third Emblazoned (9st 7lb, John Gosden, 16/1).
Last year’s Unibet Stewards’ Cup runner-up Justanotherbottle (8st 11lb, Declan Carroll, 25/1) is aiming to go one better after his agonising short-head defeat at the hands of Gifted Master. The five-year-old has had a light campaign so far in 2019, finishing down the field in two handicaps at York in May (5f) and on June 29 (6f), though beaten less than six lengths and eight lengths respectively.
North Yorkshire-based Declan Carroll revealed: “Justanotherbottle is in good form.
“I did not think he ran too bad a race recently at York - we were happy enough with him anyway and he has come out of it fine.
“The Unibet Stewards’ Cup has been on the agenda for a while, given how well he ran there last year, and hopefully we can get him there in similar form.
“There has been no decision made on who will ride him. We will cross that bridge nearer the time.”
The Dean Ivory-trained Lancelot Du Lac (8st 13lb, 66/1), winner of the Unibet Stewards’ Cup in 2017, could bid to become the first dual winner of the race since Sky Diver in 1967 and 1968.
Unibet Stewards' Cup - Unibet prices:
12/1 Flavius Titus
14/1 Gunmetal, Khaadem, Staxton, Victory Day
16/1 Emblazoned, Hey Jonesy, Shimmering Dawn, Spanish City, Vanbrugh
20/1 Baron Bolt, Cosmic Law, George Bowen, Growl, Gulliver, Laugh A Minute, Louie De Palma, Major Jumbo, Mr Lupton, Soldier’s Minute, Stone Of Destiny, Yattwee
25/1 Blown By Wind, Cold Stare, Ice Age, Justanotherbottle, Margub, Open Wide, Richenza, Savalas, Summerghand
33/1 Air Raid, Buridan, Dubai Legacy, Duke Of Firenze, Embour, Great Prospector, Kimfive, Lake Volta, Lord Riddiford, Magical Wish, Moon Trouble, Ornate, Puds, Rathbone, Raucous, Reputation, Saaheq, Stake Acclaim, True Mason, Vintage Brut, Wise Counsel, Yousini
40/1 bar
Each-way ¼ odds 1-2-3-4
Oh This Is Us (Richard Hannon, 20/1) and Cardsharp (Mark Johnston, 50/1), both rated 110, top the weights on 9st 10lb for the £150,000 Unibet Golden Mile.
Hamdan Al Maktoum’s Afaak (Charlie Hills) has been allotted 9st 8lb following his nail-biting nose victory over the mare Clon Coulis (9st 3lb, David Barron, 14/1) in the Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot.
Afaak is one of five 12/1 co-favourites with race sponsor Unibet. The other market leaders include recent Listed runner-up New Graduate (9st 5lb, James Tate) and History Writer (David Menuisier), who was the decisive winner of a mile handicap at Sandown Park on June 15.
One of the least exposed entries is the Dominic Ffrench Davis-trained Indeed (9st, 33/1). A dual winner from four starts in France for Henri-Francois Devin, Indeed was just touched off on his debut for current connections in the Spring Cup Handicap at Newbury in April.
On his only subsequent outing, the Juddmonte Farms-bred four-year-old went one better in a 10-furlong class two handicap on Polytrack at Chelmsford City on June 19, defeating Desert Fire by just under a length.
Ffrench Davis, who is based in Lambourn, declared: “Indeed is in good order and the plan is Unibet Golden Mile, provided the ground is suitable.
“We were not really sure what to expect when he joined us, though we felt his form in France was OK and he is a nice looking horse by Showcasing, who has done so well.
“When we first worked Indeed, he did not actually show us a huge amount, but within a few weeks, he started to show us a lot, and we felt from quite an early stage that he was probably a Group horse.
“I think he is quite versatile when it comes to trip. He showed plenty of pace over the mile at Newbury and you could have argued from the way he ran that day that we were better off going back to seven furlongs, but he stayed the mile and a quarter no problem at Chelmsford.
“The only thing with him is that he would not want the ground too fast.”
Unibet Golden Mile - Unibet prices:
12/1 Afaak, Flaming Spear, History Writer, New Graduate, Power Of Darkness
14/1 Awe, Beat Le Bon, Clon Coulis, Kynren, Turgenev
16/1 Fanaar, King Ademar, Marie’s Diamond, Mutaraffa
20/1 Battered, Bowerman, Game Player, Gossiping, Key Victory, Lush Life, Mawakib, Mojito, Mordin, Motafaawit, Mubhij, Oh This Is Us, Seniority, Victory Command, Willie John
25/1 Beringer, Bless Him, Dark Vision, Ibraz, Rise Hall, Salute The Soldier, Silver Line, Vale Of Kent, Watan, What’s The Story
33/1 Apex King, Baltic Baron, Bedouin’s Story, Breden, Commander Cole, Escobar, Global Gift, Indeed, Masham Star, Nicklaus, Raising Sand, Raydiance, Shady McCoy, Ventura Knight, Waarif, Yattwee, Zhui Feng, Zwayyan
40/1 bar
Each-way ¼ odds 1-2-3-4
The scratchings stage for both the Unibet Stewards’ Cup and Unibet Golden Mile is at noon on Tuesday, July 9, details of which will be released 24 hours later.
About the Qatar Goodwood Festival
Once described by King Edward VII as 'a garden party with racing,' this world-famous five-day festival - affectionately known as 'Glorious Goodwood' - is one of the highlights of the flat racing season. Over 100,000 people flock to the world's most beautiful racecourse to enjoy top class racing and entertainment, including the £1-million Qatar Sussex Stakes, the cavalry charge that is the Qatar Steward's Cup and the marathon Qatar Goodwood Cup.
The 2019 event takes place from Tuesday 30 July to Saturday 3 August and Qatar continues its generous support of the week, with prize money totalling over £5.5 million.
Tickets and hospitality packages for all of Goodwood’s 2019 fixtures can be purchased at Goodwood.com or by calling 01243 755055.
For editorial enquiries please contact:
Lucy Snell in the Goodwood Press Office: 01243 755 000, lucy.snell@goodwood.com
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