Stallion records identify chance of thunder in Glorious Goodwood week

There are enough races across the five days at Glorious Goodwood to ensure that even the most cautious of punters lucky enough to have found a winner or two will have been given ample opportunity to have handed it all back to the bookmakers by the time the week is over.

At least this also means there is a decent spread of races to draw some statistics from and a dive into results from the last dozen years provides a couple of eyecatching pointers.

Perhaps the most interesting feature of the records of the most successful Glorious Goodwood stallions during that time is their strike-rates. When it comes to wins against runs, rather than individual winners to runners, we might expect an elite stallion to poll at between 15 and 20 per cent; Frankel achieved 17 last year when he won the British and Irish sires' title and in this season's close-run affair most of the main players are hovering at around that again.

The difference in the Glorious Goodwood data is that two stallions, Night Of Thunder and Sea The Stars, are some way above that mark. Night Of Thunder is currently sitting on an outstanding 27.3 per cent, as well as providing enough reward from his 22 starters at the meeting to net supporters a profit of just over £12 to a £1 level stake.

Curiously enough, Night Of Thunder's Guineas-winning career was book-ended by two appearances on this track. He entered the arena on his end-of-season debut as a two-year-old when winning by six lengths and retired after a listless performance in the 2015 Sussex Stakes. Two of the winners in the course of this meeting are actually his finest two offspring on official and Racing Post Ratings and came in the same race. Exemplary mare Highfield Princess made a rare drop back down to Group 2 level in the 2023 King George Stakes, two years after Suesa had enjoyed a career highlight in the big sprint.

Night Of Thunder: sire in fine form has live hopes at GoodwoodCredit: Patrick McCann

The Kildangan Stud resident has had a hat-trick of stakes winners in the last fortnight, including the Group 3 Meadow Court Stakes in his own original Saeed Manana colours through Royal Dress. This ought to augur well for Chicago Critic, who will be a bit of a price in the Lennox Stakes on Tuesday. 

The Johnny Murtagh-trained chestnut was fast-tracked to the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot and finished just a length in arrears of Haatem and Kikkuli, who have both showed smart form elsewhere.

Recent Redcar novice winner Midnite Storm has a hope in handicap company this week, as do the likes of Telemark, Noel Fox and Cloud King. Night Of Thunder's other Group prospect is Al Musmak, who looked restored to himself after a drop in class and trip in the Sir Henry Cecil Stakes at the July meeting and now tries the Thoroughbred Stakes on Friday.

Behind Night Of Thunder but, at 23.7 per cent well ahead of the rest of the field, is Sea The Stars. A big asset to his standings, as the record-holding four-time winner of the Goodwood Cup, has been Stradivarius and he has another top contender for the race this time in Sweet William. The magnificent Kyprios stands in the way of a horse who has quickly emerged at the very top of Britain's staying division and he was a ready winner of a handicap at last year's meeting.

Sea The Stars, whose Baaeed also came up trumps on two consecutive occasions here, is one of those not totally out of the equation to win a first overall title and a decent week would help. 

He certainly has some runners in the right races and Emily Upjohn, a class act of a daughter, was supplemented for Thursday's £665,000 Nassau Stakes, with up-and-coming fillies See The Fire and Doha adding strong support in it. Cases could be made for Bellum Justum and Align The Stars in the Gordon the same day, and likewise on Saturday River Of Stars in what looks a good Lillie Langtry Stakes and Al Aasy in the Glorious Stakes.

Dark Angel, who has had plenty of Goodwood winners but at a more sedate strike-rate, will be largely relying on those valuable handicaps to defend his lead in the British and Irish standings and he could end up coming under pressure from Dubawi in particular. The most prolific sire on the course since 2012 will be fighting for the £1,000,000 of prize-money available to the field of six in Wednesday's Sussex Stakes, with his sons Henry Longfellow and Notable Speech looking to topple the Richard Hannon-trained Rosallion (Blue Point).

When it comes to profit from a £1 stake, Shamardal is an ocean clear, for all that his score of £67.50 is flattered by the big-priced victories by Amy Eria at 33-1 and Lancelot Du Lac at 25s some years ago. There are, sadly, ever diminishing numbers of his offspring around to fly the flag, with his small final crop now three years of age, and you have to wait until the weekend for any Shamardals to be running at Goodwood. Albasheer, however, is bang in form and is set to carry a penalty in the Stewards' Cup after popping up at Ascot on Saturday.

Galileo, unsurprisingly a perennial presence with his runners, will not reach a century of individual Group/Grade 1 winners during this week, but there is a secondary interest in finding unexposed youngsters with the potential to strike at that level. 

Top of that bill this week should be Jan Brueghel, the Barronstown Stud-bred brother to Irish Derby winner Sovereign. He's unbeaten in two starts and goes on trial for the St Leger in the Gordon Stakes.

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