Glorious Goodwood 2022: Day 5 Spot Plays

For punters seeking a great payout, the last day of Glorious Goodwood is the one that interests them most.

Just one black type race is featured: the 1 3/4-mile Lillie Langtry (G2) for fillies and mares, which, with £300,000 (about $365,000) in prize money, isn’t bad (especially by UK standards) for staying distaffers.

However, it’s the handicaps that get the bettors excited. In particular, the Stewards’ Cup, the 28-horse, six-furlong dash, is usually one of the 10 biggest betting races on the flat in Britain every year. With total prize money of £250,000 — £75,000 more than any handicap at Royal Ascot — it gets a high-quality field. Best of all, the odds are great. The favorite in Britain two days before the race was at 8-1.

There’s also a Stewards’ Cup consolation worth £50,000, and the 1 3/4-mile Summer Handicap for £100,000. So let’s have a look at these features.

Race 2, 8:40 a.m. ET: Stewards’ Cup Consolation, 6 furlongs, 3-year-olds and up

A surprisingly small field of 12 are taking part in the Stewards’ Cup Consolation, for horses too low in the ratings to make the main race. With such a small field, the race has an unusually dominant favorite for a UK handicap — #7 Lethal Levi, who could start at less than 2-1.

Lethal Levi comes into the race having won handicaps at Newmarket at his last two starts, both convincingly. He looks like a three-year-old on the up and will be extremely hard to beat.

Another horse on the up is #2 Dream Composer, who hasn’t finished further back than fourth in his last six starts. Most significantly, that includes a victory at Goodwood June 5, so he should be included.

I also have some time for #4 Mokaatil and #6 Mitrosonfire, while I wouldn’t rule out a return to form for #1 Digital. However, it looks like Lethal Levi’s race.

• $10 win/$30 place: #7 Lethal Levi ($40)
• $1 trifecta: 2, 7 with 2, 7 with all ($20)

Race 3, 9:10 a.m. ET: Summer Handicap, 1 3/4 miles, 3-year-olds and up

#4 Soapy Stevens is favored by many here after winning his last two, scoring most recently in a heritage handicap at Newmarket on July 8. In it he put Candleford, such an impressive winner at Royal Ascot, more than four lengths behind him. The form looks good out of the race, and he should go well again.

He should not be left out, but it’s also worth a serious look at the horse he downed by a short head at Newmarket, #14 Red Flyer. He’s one pound better off at the weights, and chances are you’ll get a much better price about him than for Soapy Stevens.

Others with a chance include #3 Sam Cooke, #8 Valley Forge, #10 Cemhaan, #11 Bascule, and #13 Bague D’Or.

• $10 win/$20 place: #14 Red Flyer ($30)
• $1 trifecta: 4, 14 with 4, 14 with 3, 8, 10, 11, 13 ($10)

Race 4, 9:45 a.m. ET: Lillie Langtry Stakes (G2), 1 3/4 miles, fillies and mares 3 years old and up

The two here look to be #3 Sea La Rosa and #7 Emily Dickinson. Sea La Rosa has won three of her last five, and this season beat race rival #5 Viola in the Pinnacle (G3) before beating all but the high-quality Free Wind in the Lancashire Oaks (G2). She hasn’t raced at 1 3/4 miles before but did win well at 1 5/8 miles last season.

Emily Dickinson is one of two three-year-olds in the race, fresh from finishing fourth in the 1 1/2-mile Irish Oaks (G1). Prior to that, she was just a short head away from winning the 1 3/4-mile Stanerra (G2), and she will clearly stay the journey.

The pair look hard to split, but with a 10-pound allowance for a three-year-old I’ll take Emily Dickinson to win.

• $10 win/$30 place: #7 Emily Dickinson ($40)
• $2 trifecta: 3, 7 with 3, 7 with all ($12)

Race 5, 10:20 a.m. ET: Stewards’ Cup, 6 furlongs, 3-year-olds and up

As with most big handicaps, I like to look for young horses on the way up. Punters seem to agree, as favoritism is likely to lay with #17 Inver Park after he won the seven-furlong Buckingham Palace Handicap at Royal Ascot June 16. The form out of the race has been only fair, however, so I think he can be opposed.

The other key form race here looks to be another Royal Ascot feature, the six-furlong Wokingham. Eight runners from that race return here, including the horses that finished second (#12 Popmaster), fourth (#5 Mr Wagyu), fifth (#16 Summerghand), and sixth (#18 First Folio). The Wokingham contingent also includes last year’s Stewards' Cup winner #8 Commanche Falls, who unseated his rider in the Wokingham.

The form has worked out well from the Wokingham, with several runners having since scored victories, including Mr Wagyu. Popmaster hasn’t raced since that day, but though he’s up to four pounds worse off with some of his rivals from Ascot, he looks ready for another bold race.

Also backing up from Ascot, admittedly from the July 9 meet, is #19 Whenthedealinsdone; he was looking set to be right in the heritage handicap that day only to meet severe interference about 1 1/2 furlongs from home. With a clear run he could well get some of this.

The dark horse in the race could be #4 Coachello; a Listed stakes winner when trained in France last year, he hasn’t started this year and is now based in England. He could be worth a speculative bet.

• $10 win/$20 place: #12 Popmaster
• $10 place: #4 Coachello