Goodwood Tips: Thursday Racing Tips from Architect

A race that tends to throw up subsequent winners left, right and centre is the King George V Handicap at Royal Ascot and PERFUSE (best price 5/2), who ran really well when fifth of 19 on his handicap debut, can make amends in the opener off an unchanged mark with Ryan Moore in the saddle for the first time in his career.

This three-year-old is rightfully at the head of the market after that performance last time, where he shaped like the best horse in the race, as he travelled into the lead on the bridle from the home-bend but was swamped late into the piece. Still, there was lots to like about that display and it confirmed he is a horse very much on the up with more to come.

This is a weaker race and he will have no issue in regards to conditions either, as he bolted up on heavy ground at Nottingham back in May after a promising second on debut on soft ground. He will be better suited to this course and is drawn well in stall 7, too. He has plenty in his favour and, with the prospect of surpassing this current mark in due course, it is hard to resist the allure of his chances.

Initially, the odds about SKETCH (best price 3/1) were much bigger for this contest before a couple of well-fancied horses in the betting were scratched from the race. Regardless of their absence though, Freddie and Martyn Meade’s one-time raced winner could have the ammunition to beat these after a blissful debut success at Newbury which marked him down as a potential bright prospect.

His connections are well-documented with classy young sprinters and this horse could well be another to emerge from their team, who clocked a really good time-figure when he ran his rivals into submission on debut, finishing five lengths clear of his nearest pursuer. That victory only came 12 days ago but connections are wasting no time in throwing him into the deep-end here.

The manner in which he controlled the race from the front and then quickened up off his own pace, in which he set a decent tempo, was impressive. What really stood out was the time he recorded, which was marginally quicker than the victory of Commanche Calls in the Group 3 Hackwood Stakes, which was littered with quality sprinters.

He has to prove himself under completely different conditions here but I just loved the way he conducted himself on debut, where he was alert and fast from the gates, showing a lot of professionalism for a newcomer and he will be partnered by Oisin Murphy on this occasion. With Unquestionable now out of the race, who I believed was going to be his biggest danger, I fancy him to remain unbeaten and land the spoils.

Just the six runners for this Group 3 but it is a fascinating line-up with nearly all of these closely matched on collateral form. However, conditions could just suit ARTISTIC STAR (best price 4/1) better than most, who’s two wins have come on ground with soft in the description and this is a drop in grade after being highly-tried the last two times.

Trainer Ralph Beckett has already enjoyed success at this meeting this week and this talented youngster has shown markedly improved form with each start and after an eye-catching seventh in the Derby when coming from miles off the pace on ground too quick, he advanced his form to finish third in the King Edward at Royal Ascot.

He ultimately proved no match for impressive winner King Of Steel but he kept going once headed and the winner has franked the form by running a blinder to finish third in the Group 1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes. Previously, he finished upsides Waipiro in the Derby, who has since beaten Exoplanet and Canberra Legend comfortably and the former of the two mentioned has the beating of Desert Hero and Chesspiece.

Furthermore, he was only a couple of lengths behind Continuous, who had run well to finish third in the Dante back in May. His form is primarily amongst the best in the field and the pinnacle of his ability surely hasn’t been reached. With conditions ideal and this track sure to suit him better than Ascot, he has the class to make a serious impact at this level.

I have gone over this race multiple times and I keep coming back to the Hugo Palmer-trained BALON D’OR (best price 11/1) who I know has far more weight to carry than the rest, but he has a touch of class and the booking of Harry Davies can only be recognised as a positive.

Since winning on debut at Musselburgh, he has been competing in stronger company than this, incldiogm in Group/Listed/Conditions events, with his second at Epsom just about the best form in this race. In that event, he had subsequent Group 2 winner Haatem in behind and none of the remainder have achieved anything similar.

He wasn’t at his best at Newbury last time but is better than that and if the step up to seven-furlongs works the oracle, in addition to the favourable soft ground, I expect him to outrun his odds. His trainer is also represented with Phone Tag but I rate the former's chances a lot stronger, and he is the recommendation with four places generally available.

In the Buccellati Handicap, METAL MERCHANT (best price 7/1) could be about to gain a third career success from a workable mark with Ryan Moore booked to ride for the first time, whose presence is interesting indeed.

This three-year-old has improved leaps and bounds over the last year and while he could only finish midfield in the Britannia at Royal Ascot, which wasn’t a bad effort anyway, he has been rock solid on the turf. His third at Haydock back in May is strong and has proved he can handle soft ground when third at Newmarket.

That was off a pound higher mark than today's mark, plus the form has a nice look to it, as he was right in behind Dark Thirty, who has run well in good handicaps since, including at this meeting yesterday. If Ryan Moore can galvanise more improvement out of him, he will be thereabouts with five places widely on offer.

With the race offering the five places, don’t be fooled into thinking JOHN CHARD VC (best price 25/1) doesn’t have the ability to bounce back and outperform his wild statistical odds from a good draw in stall 2 with Richard Kingscote taking the ride.

It would be fair to say he has been well-beaten in both starts this year but he did show up well for a long way on his reappearance over course-and-distance and his victory over Kolsai back in September is good form, as the latter has placed in pattern-class events since and is rated 102.

Surely on that basis, Clive Cox’s runner is well-handicapped off a mark of 81 if he can rediscover that form in this contest. He does need to stage a revival but perhaps the softer ground will help in that aspect and at such a massive price, he is worth one more roll of the dice.

In the final race on the card, the World Pool Handicap, I can make a strong case for ROGUE SPIRIT (best price 12/1) who could very easily stage a repeat of his two-year-old form if the blinkers have a positive outcome.

He was well-held on the all-weather last time out behind Democracy Dilemma and has been well off the pace overall this season, not figuring in each of his three starts but, conversely, he is sitting on a handy mark of 87 and two of his best performances came when the ground was soft-ish.

One of those he won, beating the 100+ rated Al Dasim, while in the other he was right on the quarters of Cold Case in third at Chester, who is also rated in the high 100s. With most firms offering four places, he makes plenty of appeal despite this being extremely competitive.