British racing’s top class major festivals continue into August as Channel 4 screens live coverage of Glorious Goodwood 2013.
The five-day meeting is one of the highlights of the summer flat scene when such diverse races as the Sussex Stakes, Nassau Stakes, Goodwood Cup and the Stewards’ Cup are held.
Five miles north of Chichester in West Sussex, the course is run by the family of the Duke of Richmond, whose seat is nearby at Goodwood House.
The Glorious meeting is not as formal as Royal Ascot, nor as spectacular in racing terms, but Goodwood remains an important landmark in the British Flat racing calendar, and a key part of the summer holiday season.
Perched high on the South Downs in Sussex, with some of the finest views available at any track in the world, Goodwood has an unusual tight, right-handed loop with the runners starting the longer races running down the finishing straight “the wrong way” before negotiating the loop and coming back down towards the crowds.
Over five days of racing, two individual races stand out – the one-mile Sussex Stakes and the slightly longer Nassau Stakes, for fillies and mares – both Group 1 races.
The Sussex Stakes rose to prominence in 2011 when the untouchable Frankel and Canford Cliffs (who boasted five Group 1 wins in succession up to that point) lined up in a race that came to be billed as “The Duel on the Downs”.
Frankel made all the running to beat the older horse by five lengths.
When he returned to the track the following year, Frankel was unbackable at 1-20, and duly became the first horse to win the Sussex Stakes twice.
Although the 2013 Sussex Stakes clash between Dawn Approach and Toronado – billed as the new Duel on the Downs – is eagerly anticipated, Saturday’s Nassau Stakes, the other Group 1 contest of the festival, could be the race of the week.
Widely acknowledged as one of the sporting and social highlights of the summer, as well as the chicest and most relaxed of racing’s summer festivals, Glorious Goodwood is a quintessentially English event and Channel 4 will have live coverage of all five days of the 2013 edition.
Clare Balding and Nick Luck lead Channel 4 Racing’s coverage starting at 1.30pm each day and featuring at least four live races, including every day’s feature race.
Expert analysis and comment will be provided by Jim McGrath and Mick Fitzgerald, race commentary comes from Simon Holt, while Tanya Stevenson will be situated in the betting ring with all the latest news and tips.
Rishi Persad and Emma Spencer will be Channel 4’s roving reporters across the grounds and in the parade ring.
Further analysis, reports and news from Goodwood, as well as live streaming of Channel 4’s live coverage, can be found via the Channel 4 horse racing website.
Dedicated horse racing channel Racing UK will broadcast every Glorious Goodwood race live across all five days.
DAY 1 – Tuesday 30th July LIVE: 1.30pm-4.00pm Channel 4
Glorious Goodwood 2013 gets underway as one of Britain’s most beautiful racecourses plays host to five unmissable days of racing.
There will be a feast of high-quality racing on display with races including the Group 2 Bet365 Lennox Stakes taking the limelight, while the Group 3 Molecomb Stakes is always won by a speedy juvenile.
Race Card 1:55 – bet365.com Stakes (Handicap) 2:30 – bet365 Molecombe Stakes (Group 3) 3:05 – bet365 Lennox Stakes (Group 2) 3:40 – bet365 Summer Stakes (Handicap) 4:15 – Casino at bet365 EBF Maiden Stakes 4:50 – Poker at bet365 Stakes (Handicap) 5:25 – Mobile at bet365 Stakes (Handicap)
DAY 2 – Wednesday 31st July
LIVE: 1.30pm-4.00pm Channel 4
Today sees the ‘Duel on the Downs’ in the Group 1 Sussex Stakes.
Jim Bolger’s 2000 Guineas winner Dawn Approach takes on the Richard Hannon colt Toronado, who he beat by a head in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Previous winners of this prestigious Group 1 contest that forms part of the British Champion Series have included Brigadier Gerard, Giant’s Causeway, Rock of Gibraltar and the mighty Frankel, who became the first horse to win the race twice (2011 and 2012).
Some of the sport’s greatest ever milers have been victorious in the Sussex Stakes, which is held in such high esteem in the racing world.
Race Card 1:55 – UBS Goodwood Stakes (Handicap) 2:30 – Neptune Investment Management Gordon Stakes (Group 3) 3:05 – QIPCO Sussex Stakes (Group 1) 3:40 – Veuve Clicquot Vintage Stakes (Group 2) 4:15 – Markel Insurance Maiden Fillies’ Stakes 4:50 – British Stallion Studs Turf Club EBF Fillies’ Stakes (Handicap) 5:25 – Harwoods Racing Club Handicap
DAY 3 – Thursday 1st August
LIVE: 1.30pm-4.00pm Channel 4
It’s Ladies’ Day on Day 3 at Glorious Goodwood and the Channel 4 Racing team to bring viewers five races from the picturesque Sussex course.
There are three Group contests today, the highlight being the Goodwood Cup; held over two miles, the race has been won by some of the great stayers in the sport, including Yeats, Persian Punch and the popular Double Trigger, who’s third win came 15 years ago.
Race Card 1:45 – Magnolia Cup (Celebrity Ladies’ Race) 2:15 – Gordon’s Handicap 2:45 – Audi Richmond Stakes (Group 2) 3:15 – Artemis Goodwood Cup (Group 2) 3:45 – Blackrock Fillies’ Stakes (Group 3) 4:20 – EBF British Stallion Studs New Ham Maiden Fillies’ Stakes 4:50 – Tatler Handicap 5:25 – QIPCO Future Stars Apprentice Handicap
DAY 4 – Friday 2nd August
LIVE: 1.30pm-4.30pm Channel 4
Friday of Glorious Goodwood is a truly special day with a wealth of high-quality racing action.
Today’s feature is the Betfred Mile, which is the most valuable Handicap at Goodwood and is always fiercely contested.
Another of today’s highlight on the rolling Sussex track is the five-furlong King George Stakes.
The race has been won by some of the great sprinters, including the legendary mare Lochsong, whose first of two wins came 20 years ago with victory over Paris House.
Race Card 1:55 – Coutts Glorious Stakes (Group 3) 2:30 – Bonhams Thoroughbred Stakes (Group 3) 3:05 – Betfred Mile (Heritage Handicap) 3:40 – Betfred King George Stakes (Group 2) 4:15 – Golf at Goodwood Nursery Handicap 4:50 – Betfred TV Oak Tree Stakes (Group 3) 5:25 – Betfred Mobile Lotto Handicap
DAY 5 – Saturday 3rd August
The Morning Line: 8.00am-9.00am Channel 4
LIVE: 1.30pm-4.20pm Channel 4
Glorious Goodwood comes to a close with a superb card on Saturday.
There are two main highlights with the Stewards Cup and its traditional six furlong cavalry charge providing a fitting finale to the five-day Festival, in what is one of the season’s biggest betting handicaps.
The second is the Group 1 Markel Insurance Nassau Stakes – part of the prestigious British Champions Series.
Channel 4’s coverage will also feature two races from Newmarket at 2.20 and 2.55.
Race Card 2:05 – Robins Farm Racing Stewards’ Sprint Stakes (Handicap) 2:40 – RAC Handicap 3:15 – Markel Insurance Nassau Stakes (Group 1) 3:50 – Robins Farm Racing Stewards’ Cup (Heritage Handicap) 4:25 – NatWest Ahead For Business EBF Maiden Stakes 5:00 – Goodwood Nursery Handicap 5:35 – Telegraph Handicap
