Goodwood director of racing Ed Arkell previews Glorious Goodwood - the 2024 Qatar Goodwood Festival, which runs from July 30 to August 3
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00:00Goodwin does not look very glorious today, it is raining and has been for some time but
00:08next week is going to be different. The forecast is pretty good and Goodwin will look glorious
00:12next week. Ed Arkall, Director of Racing will agree with me on that point and will be responsible
00:18for making it look glorious. Ed, we're five days out from day one so this rain at the
00:23moment is welcome.
00:24Yes, absolutely perfect. Coming warm and dry after today through the weekend into the early
00:31part of next week which is great. So it will just dry back, save the team having to do
00:36any watering and naturally it's much better than last year.
00:39And this rain must remind you of last winter because it pretty much rains the whole winter
00:44and that gave you some real challenges, didn't it?
00:46Yes, it did. Certainly trying to do the renovation works for the track that we normally do proved
00:52very tricky. But it's just been quite odd. We've had 80 something mil already in July.
00:58We haven't had much of a summer. Also for this, that's great. But for the rest of us,
01:04for the weekend it's not quite so good. But we get on with it and on we go.
01:09And it will soon be forgotten if we have a nice day for day one on Tuesday.
01:13Yes.
01:14And you've seen quite a lot now of entries for the big races and for the first couple
01:19of weeks. A comment on the quality and the quantity of entries that you know about so far?
01:24Yes, really good. Good numbers in virtually all the races. The couple of races that are
01:28a little bit thin have got great quality in them. So you couldn't want more.
01:33The horses we want to see in the races, the Sussex and the Goodwood Cup, are all there
01:38and they're both looking like they're going to be really, really good races.
01:42Obviously the Nassau and those races towards the end of the week, we're still waiting to see
01:46the confirmations. But the horses that are in there look really positive and what we've heard
01:52is potentially staying in the race would suggest they'll be equally good.
01:57So let's just talk through the week, day by day. And it's the same sort of flow for the top races,
02:02kicking off on Tuesday when the Goodwood Cup is the highlight. But you've got some good supporting races as well.
02:08Yes, the Atlantic Stakes and the Vintage. The Vintage for the two-year-olds will probably go on to be
02:13Milers next year. So you always hope that you'd see a really good winner of the Vintage
02:18might come back in the guineas and then go on from there. The Lennox over seven furlongs.
02:22Kinross back for an attempt to win three on the bounce, which would be fantastic.
02:27Into Wednesday, obviously the Sussex Stakes, the highlights of the week. You said eight in that,
02:32but you've got all the top three-year-olds. Also the French horse, Factor Cheval,
02:37who ran second to Paddington in the Sussex last year. He's back for another crack.
02:41He ran a great race in Dubai to win in March. It all went horribly wrong for him at Ascot,
02:48for the Royal Meeting in the Queen Anne. Wrong part of the track, lost a shoe.
02:53So you can forgive all of that. And obviously the Oak Tree Stakes for the fillies over seven.
02:59Looks really, really competitive. Some French, Irish, English and a German horse.
03:04So good international race there. Thursday, the Nassau. Again, let's wait and see what happens tomorrow
03:11with those, but we've got some really top class fillies. You'd suggest the favourite will be
03:15Aiden O'Brien's Opera Singer that ran at Royal Ascot. And the indications are that she'll come,
03:21so that would be great. And then on to Friday, the King George Qatar Stakes.
03:27Another international one. Another international one, exactly. Some Irish, some English.
03:32We've got the Australian sprinter, Asfora, who won the King's Stand at Royal Ascot.
03:38She's coming down for that, so that'll be brilliant. Saw her in Australia in the spring.
03:42So that's a long-term plan that's worked out. And the Czech horse, Pontos, will be back again for a third year.
03:48Probably with the best form so far this season that he's had of the three times he's been here.
03:53So that'll be good. The Lily Langtree on Saturday looked really strong.
03:58And the usual charge is the Stewards' Cup. This year we've got rid of the consolation race.
04:04It hasn't really performed very well the last two years. So we've put a race from Friday,
04:09the King Gloria Stakes, on to Saturday. And then we put a new race,
04:14a 9 furlong, so 1.1 condition stakes, in on Friday in its place.
04:20So there's a little bit of tweaking of the programme, but no major changes because it works as it is.
04:25Yeah, it works. It's great. We seem to get good field sizes. It's a nice good range of races
04:30and everybody has a chance to have a run here.
04:32And the international flavour that you've talked about there, it must be pleasing to see
04:36more and more connections from overseas and some of the racing hotbeds coming here.
04:41Because it's been a priority for a while, but it's taken a long time to convince someone to come.
04:47Yeah, definitely. And frustrating, there was a Japanese horse for you to come in the Sussex Stakes.
04:52That hasn't come. There was a Norwegian horse that ran very bad at the weekend, so they're not now coming.
04:58And I suppose the more potential runners you have, the more potential horses don't run.
05:03So in a way, it's great, but equally it's frustrating that those horses that you thought you got lined up
05:07then don't turn up. But that's the nature of the beast.
05:10And just finally, a word about the grounds team working under you.
05:14They would have been working hard throughout the season and they will be from now until the weekend,
05:20during the weekend.
05:21Yeah, Andrew and his team have done a fantastic job.
05:24You're just walking down the track now and I think that probably says it all, to be honest.
05:28Yes, it is.
05:29It looks immaculate.
05:30Very green.
05:31Absolutely, yeah.
05:33So yeah, all set for a good week and as long as the rain stops, we'll be happy.
05:37Yeah, absolutely.