Five horses that caught the eye in defeat at the Qatar Goodwood Festival

We were treated to some brilliant action at the 2020 Qatar Goodwood Festival, with Battaash and Stradivarius both creating history on a memorable five days of racing.

It was a shame racegoers were not allowed to attend on the final day as planned due to Covid-19 and the Government cancelling further pilot events for the return of crowds to sporting venues.

Let’s hope racegoers are allowed back on a racecourse soon and we slowly start to get back to some normality.

On the plus side, the race of the meeting, the Qatar Sussex Stakes did not disappoint either and Mohaather produced a brilliant turn of foot to land the spoils. Marcus Tregoning has confirmed the QEII will be his end-of-season target and the four-year-old is likely to take all the beating in that contest.

If you did miss any of the action at this year’s Qatar Goodwood Festival, you can watch it all again for free in the results and replay section.

All the key interviews from the week are also available to watch here.

Plenty of horses caught the eye over the five days and below are five that are worth adding to your Racing TV tracker.

Youth Spirit got off the mark at the second time of asking when successful in a useful maiden at Newmarket on soft ground in July and progressed again to finish a never-nearer third in this Group Two contest.

Andrew Balding’s charge was squeezed out at the start which lead to him being shuffled back and further behind than ideal. He then raced a shade keenly throughout and was forced to make his challenge out wide.

It is unlikely Youth Sprit would have beaten the impressive winner, Battleground – who is now the general 12-1 favourite for next year’s Qipco 2000 Guineas - but he would have almost certainly finished closer. Discussing the interference afterwards, Racing TV pundit Eddie Fremantle said:

“That must have cost him a little bit in the race, and he wasn’t where Oisin (Murphy) wanted him to be. He had to settle at the back of the field, which wasn’t ideal.”

He is by English and Irish Derby winner Camelot, so you would expect Youth Spirit to stay further in time too and this youngster looks to have a bright future.

Dean Street Doll came from a long way back to finish third in this contest and her effort can be marked up given how much ground she had to make up. The four-year-old was last entering the home straight and was waited with before Ryan Moore was forced to challenge widest of all.

Racing TV pundit Chris Dixon was impressed with the run and said:

“I liked the run of Dean Street Doll from a good way back. I do still wonder whether either a more strongly-run race, or softer ground, is going to suit her better. She responded well and made some nice progress to get herself into the race.”

David Menuisier’s charge shaped as though she was returning to form when fourth at Sandown on her third start for the West Sussex handler and she is attractively handicapped on the best of her Irish form, so is one to follow in handicaps for the remainder of the season.

This looked a strong renewal of the Goodwood feature and the one to take out of the race is Kameko who finished a luckless fourth having met plenty of trouble in running.

Whether he would have beaten the winner, Mohaather, with a clear run is questionable, although Oisin Murphy said he believed his mount should have won when providing his thoughts afterwards in a revealing interview with Nick Luck on Racing TV (below).

Mohaather produced an impressive turn of foot that I don’t think Kameko would have been able to match given Marcus Tregoning’s charge also suffered traffic problems.

However, it is easy to believe Kameko would have finished second and ten furlongs is likely to be his optimum trip.

The Balding team have made it clear how much they think of their son of Kitten’s Joy and I am sure he will have another Group One victory next to his name before the end of the season.

Nazeef has done nothing but improve over the past 12 months having won a handicap off a rating of 93 in September last year, to winning a Group One at Newmarket in July.

Her winning sequence came to an end at Goodwood, but she was unlucky not to finish closer in this strong contest.

It looked as though she didn’t handle the track too well when racing downhill in the home straight and I initially thought she was outpaced. Deirdre held her in though, as did Queen Power, which didn’t help, and the race was over before she got into top gear.

With a clear run, she would have almost certainly played a part in the finish given how she stayed on in the final 100 yards and she remains unexposed over ten furlongs.

It will be no surprise if she records her second Group One success over the coming months and is a filly to keep on side.

Swindler has always been held in high regard by connections but has plenty of quirks and can hinder his chances of winning before entering the stalls.

There is no doubting he has got plenty of ability on his day though, and Ed Walker’s gelding produced a career best to finish fourth in the most competitive handicap of the week on Saturday.

This was only his eighth start and he surely has more to offer, especially if he can iron out his quirks, and a strongly-run race over six furlongs seems perfect for him.

Although I expect he’ll be nudged up a couple of pounds for this run, he ought to remain competitive in valuable handicaps and I have no doubt he is capable of winning a race of this nature.

He was due to run at Royal Ascot in June but was withdrawn at the start having refused to enter the stalls. However, it would be no surprise if he returns to the Berkshire venue on his next start given he is two from two at the track.