Glorious Goodwood 2020: all you need to know for the five-day Qatar festival

Glorious Goodwood is a five-day festival that takes place each year in late July and early August. The meeting features 38 races with three Group 1 contests – the Goodwood Cup (Tuesday), Sussex Stakes (Wednesday) and Nassau Stakes (Thursday) – and is staged from July 28 to August 1 this year.

The Goodwood Cup is the feature race on day one, Tuesday, July 28. The two-mile contest, sponsored by Al Shaqab, takes place at 3.15pm.

The main race on Wednesday, July 29 is the Qatar Sussex Stakes. The mile event is the fifth race on the second day and scheduled for 3.15pm.

Day three on Thursday, July 30 features the final Group 1 race of the meeting with the Qatar Nassau Stakes over 1m2f for fillies and mares, also at 3.15pm.

The first four days of Glorious Goodwood will take place behind closed doors, while the final day on Saturday will see racegoers return to a racecourse in Britain for the first time since lockdown with Goodwood hosting a 5,000-strong crowd as a pilot event for the public returning to sports events.

ITV: televising five races each day from Glorious GoodwoodCredit: Edward Whitaker

ITV will show five races on their main channel on each day of Glorious Goodwood with coverage between 1.30pm and 4pm on Tuesday to Friday and 1.30pm to 4.30pm on Saturday. The Opening Show will preview the Saturday action from 9.30am to 10.30am on ITV4.

Racing TV will be showing all of the action, while you can also stream and bet on each race on the Racing Post website and mobile app. Most betting shops are now open.

Why is Glorious Goodwood so important?

Glorious Goodwood became a summer highlight of the Flat season in the 19th century with the West Sussex track, with its undulations and idiosyncrasies, offering a unique test for top-level racehorses that run at the meeting.

Goodwood: picturesque track for racegoers and testing for racehorsesCredit: Anthony Devlin

In previous years, Glorious Goodwood has been a big social occasion for racegoers with over 100,000 people attending across the five days. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions, no members of the public will be attending the meeting with 5,000 people – made up of 4,000 Goodwood members and owners/trainers/officials – on course on Saturday August 1.

Who is running at the 2020 Glorious Goodwood?

Star stayer Stradivarius will bid to become the most successful horse in the history of the Goodwood Cup when aiming for a fourth consecutive win in the Group 1 event on Tuesday July 28. He is the joint winningmost horse in the race's 200-year plus history with three victories along with Double Trigger.

The best race of 2020 Glorious Goodwood promises to be the Qatar Sussex Stakes on Wednesday July 29 with unbeaten Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Siskin, Summer Mile scorer Mohaather and Qipco 2,000 Guineas hero Kameko set to go head-to-head.

Siskin: among the likely stars on show in the Sussex StakesCredit: Patrick McCann

Sprinting sensation Battaash – blink and you'll miss him – is another star seeking a fourth consecutive victory at the meeting in the King George Qatar Stakes (3.15) on Friday July 31, while Deirdre, who was a historic first Japanese runner and winner at last year's Glorious Goodwood, seeks a repeat victory in the Nassau Stakes on Thursday July 30.

Which horses have won at Glorious Goodwood?

Persian Punch, Yeats, Double Trigger and Stradivarius are among the star names on the Goodwood Cup honour roll, while Ouija Board, three-time winner Midday and Legatissimo have landed the Nassau Stakes since 2006.

Frankel: two-time winner of the Sussex Stakes at Glorious GoodwoodCredit: Mark Cranham

The great Frankel triumphed in the Sussex Stakes in 2011 and 2012, a race also won by Rock Of Gibraltar, Brigadier Gerard and Kris.

Who should I back?

The question everybody wants answered!

Firstly, have a look at the possible Sussex Stakes entries and check out our free bet offers.

Make sure you keep yourself updated on the Racing Post website, mobile app and newspaper for all our expert betting advice and news in the run-up to the big meeting.

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