The Qatar Goodwood Festival is primed and ready to light up summertime, with the 2024 edition of “Glorious Goodwood” set to kick off on Today. With the weather set fair, the British climate looks set to attempt to live up to that glorious moniker, as racing fans ready themselves for 35 compelling contests crammed into five days of action.
The Goodwood Cup takes centre stage on the opening day as the crème de la crème of the staying division lock horns over two miles. Kyprios is the overwhelming favourite to land that event for the second time, but the Day 2 feature of the Sussex Stakes looks a little more open, setting up one of the most compelling Group 1, one-mile events of the season to date.
St James’s Palace Stakes Hero Tops Six Runner Field
With the final declarations confirmed, we are set for a six-horse shootout in the Sussex. Whilst a little short on numbers, the field lacks nothing in quality, with the following half-dozen gunning for Goodwood gold.
Rosallion
- Trainer – Richard Hannon
- Jockey – Sean Levey
- Sire – Blue Point
- Previous Group 1 Wins – Prix Jean-Luc Lagarder (2023), Irish 2,000 Guineas (2024), St James’s Palace Stakes (2024)
Richard Hannon Sr landed this prize three times between 2003 and 2013, but son Richard Hannon Jr has yet to saddle the winner – Toronado coming closest when second to Kingman in 2014. However, if there is a horse to change all that, it may well be this son of the speedy Blue Point. Labelled as potentially the most talented horse he has ever trained, Rosallion has backed up his trainer’s assessment with wins in the Irish 2,000 Guineas and the St. James’s Palace Stakes. Usually employing a heart-in-the-mouth late-finishing style, he is the one they all have to beat on this season’s form.
Henry Longfellow
- Trainer – Aidan O’Brien
- Jockey – Ryan Moore
- Sire – Dubawi
- Previous Group 1 Wins – National Stakes (2023)
With six previous wins in the race, Aidan O’Brien needs just one more to draw level with Sir Henry Cecil for the all-time lead. Flying the flag for team Ballydoyle this time around is the regally bred Henry Longfellow. By Godolphin flagbearer Dubawi and out of the brilliant Coolmore mare Minding, this striking chestnut could scarcely make more appeal on paper. Compiling a perfect three-from-three record in his juvenile campaign, he has yet to hit those heights in 2024 but posted his best effort when only a neck behind Rosallion in the St James’s Palace Stakes last time.
Notable Speech
- Trainer – Charlie Appleby
- Jockey – William Buick
- Sire – Dubawi
- Previous Group 1 Wins – 2,000 Guineas (2024)
Given his regular strength in the mile division, it is a little surprising to learn that Charlie Appleby has yet to win the Sussex Stakes, with Godolphin’s most recent win coming courtesy of the Saeed bin Suroor-trained Ramonti in 2007. Notable Speech is the horse tasked with breaking Appleby’s duck in 2024 and, if at his best, he may be up to the task. Despite a perfect three-from-three record, this Dubawi colt flew under the radar ahead of the 2,000 Guineas, but was the name on everyone’s lips in the aftermath, following a highly impressive one-and-a-half-length verdict over Rosallion. However, he was nowhere near that level when trailing in seventh of eight in the St James’s Palace Stakes and needs to bounce back.
Facteur Cheval
- Trainer – Jérôme Reynier
- Jockey – Maxime Guyon
- Sire – Ribchester
- Previous Group 1 Wins – Dubai Turf (2024)
The 2024 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes served as a reminder that we write off French-trained runners at our peril. Jérôme Reynier’s Facteur Cheval carries the hopes of our Gallic cousins here and might be the pick of the older contenders in the line-up. A gallant second to Paddington in the 2023 edition, he bagged a deserved Group 1 breakthrough in the Dubai Turf back in May and has the talent to take a hand. On the downside, he also arrives on the back of a disappointing Royal Ascot performance, having finished a well-beaten sixth in the Queen Anne Stakes.
Maljoom
- Trainer – William Haggas
- Jockey – Tom Marquand
- Sire – Caravaggio
- Previous Group 1 Wins – None
Successful in 2022 with the brilliant Baeed, William Haggas saddles Maljoom in his bid for a second Sussex Stakes success. Now five years old, this son of Caravaggio looked like a Group 1 winner-in-waiting when a hugely unlucky fourth in the 2022 St James’s Palace Stakes, only for injury to strike. He hasn’t quite reached that level on his return from a 472-day break but caught the eye when running on well for third in the Queen Anne last time.
Sonny Liston
- Trainer – Ralph Beckett
- Jockey – Rossa Ryan
- Sire – Lawman
- Previous Group 1 Wins – None
Rated seven or eight pounds below the three-year-olds in the field and conceding eight pounds to those rivals under these conditions, Ralph Beckett’s Sonny Liston looks up against it on his third Glorious Goodwood appearance. Third in the Group 3 Bonhams Thoroughbred Stakes in 2022 and fifth in the 2024 Golden Mile Handicap, he handles the track well but faces a steep rise in class and would rate a shock winner.
