Air Pilot (9-2) gave us a profit on Saturday although we were out of luck in the Ayr Gold Cup with Blaine finishing only third. Air Pilot is now favourite for Saturday’s Cambridgeshire at Newmarket and we shall be previewing that race later in the week.
Goodwood holds an interesting midweek card on Wednesday with our old friend Grandeur returning to one of his happy hunting grounds. Jeremy Noseda’s grey won this race a year ago and has been busy clocking up the air miles since.
He has been running consistently in Grade 1 races in America and was unlucky not to come back with at least one victory. Noseda blamed Gary Stevens for an ill-judged ride when fourth in the Manhattan Stakes and Grandeur received a hefty bump last time when beaten in a photo in the Bowling Green Handicap.
If he is anything like that kind of form on Wednesday, he should beat Danadana on level weights. There must be a slight concern about fitness after a 74-day absence but he has only been defeated once in four races at the Sussex course and is difficult to oppose.
Dissolution gets an opportunity to restore his reputation after being beaten favourite in his last two starts for Sir Michael Stoute. He ran a race full of promise at Newbury on his debut but has since been beaten at York and Haydock. James Doyle had to give him a smack after only a furlong last time and a visor is being tried on Wednesday. He ran on strongly but could not catch Lord Ben Stack. The winner could turn out to be useful and the third was left trailing by five lengths so Dissolution gets one more chance.
One horse that has already been transformed by the headgear is Ganymede. Eve Johnson Houghton applied the blinkers at Kempton where he ran out a most impressive winner before following up at Salisbury. He had previously raced too keenly over longer trips but seems to be settling much better in the blinkers. A 7lbs hike in the weights was inevitable after a couple of facile victories but I’m sure he can go well here for Jim Crowley. The big field should not be a concern as the likes of Belle Bayardo can give him a nice lead into the race. The veteran Parisian Pyramid is the danger after his good effort at Epsom last time.
Dissolution 2.40 @Bet365
Grandeur 3.50 @11-10 Paddy Power
Ganymede 4.55 @6-1 Bet365
