Glory beckons for Hills team at Goodwood

Tips: Cotai must be taken seriously in Qatar King George Stakes

COTAI GLORY can scorch a Goodwood trail for the Charlie Hills team by winning the Qatar King George Stakes.

Hills’ sprinter finished a fine fifth in this event last year but has produced a mixed bag of results since, falling short on more than one occasion at the highest level but showing himself to be a very useful contender.

The four-year-old’s campaign did not begin on a particularly high note as he was beaten into 12th in a blanket finish to the Palace House Stakes at Newmarket, while a drop to Listed level next time also failed to yield glory as the reopposing Take Cover had him back in second.

However, his King’s Stand effort at Ascot means he must be taken seriously in this Group Two event as a neck beating at the hands of Profitable is not to be sneezed at, especially as connections were concerned about the soft ground that day.

Stepped up to six furlongs for the July Cup, Cotai Glory appeared to be found out by the slightly longer trip as he was thereabouts with two furlongs to go but dropped away.

Unless there is a true star among the field, these sprinting heats are usually ultra-tight events and it may just be Cotai Glory’s turn back to the minimum distance and with his favoured quick ground. He is going to pop up at some point.

FRANKLIN looks a likely winner of the Betfred Mile for Michael Bell and Ryan Moore.

He won a competitive event at Newmarket earlier this month with a minimum of fuss, breezing home by six lengths and taking a hike up the handicap to a rating of 109.

Jimmy Sullivan is looking forward to the ride on LEXINGTON PLACE in the feature race at Musselburgh.

Ruth Carr’s Yorkshire raider, with a past record of one win and a third from four starts at the East Lothian venue, faces 11 rivals in the £13,000 Edinburgh Gin Handicap over 5f. SELECTIONS: GOODWOOD: 2.00 Kings Fete, 2.35 Thikriyaat, 3.10 Franklin D, 3.45 COTAI GLORY (NAP), 4.20 Naafer, 4.55 Besharah, 5.30 Sixties Groove.

MUSSELBURGH: 5.40 Arthurs Secret, 6.10 Geophony, 6.45 Chaplin Bay, 7.20 Seamster, 7.55 Reckless Serenade, 8.25 Le Deluge, 8.55 Little Belter.

DOUBLE: Cotai Glory and Franklin D.

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