Group Three action at Goodwood and if official ratings are to be believed then Emotionless should win this in a procession, such is the lofty mark he earned after routing a Doncaster Group Two field last year.
By Sharmadal, he should love the prevalent good ground at Goodwood and his half-sister Lumiere, another star two-year-old from 2015, certainly bounced back to form at Newmarket recently with a similar profile.
A knee injury was blamed for his flop when well fancied in the Dewhurst Stakes last season, where Air Force Blue – who at the time had the world at his feet – thrashed him eight lengths.
He returned behind Galileo Gold and The Gurkha in the St James’ Palace at Royal Ascot this year on unsuitably soft ground and ran as well as could be expected, finishing a well beaten 5th without the benefit of match fitness.
There’s a definite danger in following this horse after only one proper career performance, but this Group Three is a significant drop in class and if he’s anywhere near as good as his official rating suggests then he should win.
As such, perhaps the 10/3 available isn’t such a bad price.
But what of the opposition?
He has three Godolphin teammates for company with Promising Run the closest in the betting – also the in-form Cymric and the out-of-sorts Buratino out at 16/1.
Buratino hasn’t appeared to have trained on at three after a really good two-year-old campaign which included a win in the Coventry Stakes and a placed effort behind Shalaa in a Group One at Newmarket.
He’s not really appealing even at the big price, and Promising Run hasn’t done much to suggest she’s a filly on the upgrade.
Cymric might be each-way value but we want to find the winner, so he’s passed too.
The Jersey Stakes form at Royal Ascot got a big boost when the winner Ribchester went oh so close in Wednesday’s Group One Sussex Stakes, and the second and third home, both trained by Sir Michael Stoute, re-oppose here.
Shortest in the betting and 11/4 favourite is the mouthful Thikriyaat, who flashed home to just pass Forge (6/1) in the shadow of the post.
Forge has Ryan Moore on board who claims the trainer has targeted the race, but it’s hard not to be underwhelmed by his comments and I’m really not a fan of tipping Stoute’s horses.
However Thikriyaat looks really good and his sire certainly appreciated the quicker going, so there’s every reason to believe he will too.
He’s also stepping up in trip to a mile, and the way he finished in the Jersey on soft ground suggests that’ll definitely suit.
It does look between the top two in the market and it’s anyone’s guess who will prevail, but THIKRIYAAT is the sober bet given his unquestionable good recent form – and he’ll have no excuses from stall three either.
1pt win Thikriyaat @11/4, 14:35 Goodwood, Friday
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