Hop to it at Goodwood
11-4fav Mid-division, switched towards stands side rail and headway over 1f out, ridden inside final furlong, led inside final 100 yards, ran on, won at Hamilton 5f nov auc stks 2yo (4) gd in Jul beating Undercover Brother by 2 1/4l, 10 ran. 6-1 Led, headed 4f out, not much room 2f out, not clear run on rail over 1f out, went 2nd and stayed on inside final furlong, no impression on winner, 2nd of 11, 1 3/4l behind Bow Belles at Ripon 5f 2yo nov stk (4) sft in Jul. 11-2 Tracked leaders in 3rd place, chased winner inside final furlong, kept on and held near finish, 2nd of 9, 3l behind Miss Puddles at Chester 5f nov med aut stk (4) gs in Jul. Andrea Atzeni on his way victory at Goodwood ANDREA ATZENI can savour more glory at Goodwood by winning the Betfred Mile aboard GM Hopkins.
Suitably inspired by a wonderful four-timer on Tuesday, the Classic-winning jockey will rightly fancy his chances of further bigrace honours with John Gosden’s inmate.
It feels like GM Hopkins has been around for an eternity, yet he is only six years of age and should never be discounted in these sort of rough-and-tumble handicaps.
The 2015 Royal Hunt Cup winner had looked in tailspin since he secured a Listed victory at Ascot last April.
But GM Hopkins suddenly returned to form in the Coral Challenge at Sandown last month and is seemingly coming back to hand nicely for this assignment.
The gelded son of Dubawi only went down by a neck to the progressive El Hayem, to whom he was giving a lot of weight, at the Esher circuit with the third horse home, Muntazah, never nearer.
GM Hopkins has gone up 3lb for the Betfred Mile, but he is still better treated than when he won at Royal Ascot and was once rated as highly as 114 just over a year ago.
He will also appreciate the more forgiving terrain at Goodwood, while it barely goes without saying that the white-hot Atzeni must also sweeten the deal.
Feature race on the penultimate day of the Goodwood Festival is the Qatar King George Stakes, which looks a belter.
Few horses in the line-up can be ruled out with any degree of optimism, but it could be worth keeping faith in Marsha.
After twice being turned over at short odds, it is fair to say Sir Mark Prescott’s Group One-winning sprinter has not quite quickened pulses since she made a classy seasonal debut at Newmarket.
Be that as it may, it was hardly a disaster to finish third in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot, while she simply bumped into a very determined horse in Caspian Prince at the Curragh.
Marsha was beaten just three-quarters of a length in this Group Two last year but she can be backed to make up that ground in what is again likely to be a very tight encounter.
Charlie Appleby will be hoping the rain in the middle of the week will not stop Frontiersman showing his true colours in the Betfred Glorious Stakes.
The Godolphin handler wisely decided against running the Coronation Cup runner-up in a soft-ground King George as he needs a sounder surface.
Even if conditions are suitable, the four-year-old still needs to curb that slightly wayward streak which saw him outgunned by stablemate Hawkbill at Newmarket last time out.
Should he remain on an even keel, Frontiersman is surely the one to beat.
Andrew Balding looks to have chosen the correct race for last month’s Listed scorer Beat The Bank.
The gelded son of Paco Boy turned in a very accomplished display at Newmarket and has a big chance back in Group Three company for the Bonhams Thoroughbred Stakes.