Thursday tips: five to follow at Goodwood and Galway

Tipster: Sam Turner.

Best odds: 10-3.

Unlucky at Ascot, he was last turning for home, but ran on to finish fifth. The form has been franked since.

Tipster: Andy Stephens.

Best odds: 11-8.

Tipster: Alex Scott.

Best odds: 5-4.

The one they all have to beat, the form of her Pretty Polly Stakes win last month looks even stronger now given how well runner-up Kalpana ran in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday.

Taking out her seasonal reappearance, where she finished sixth over a mile, it is probably fair to say she has improved with each and every run. This will be her ninth career start and we know she is a strong stayer at the trip having got within a neck of Classic glory in the Oaks.

She is also ground versatile and is likely to be ridden forward in a contest that is relatively weak on pace, and during the Pretty Polly, she clocked a top speed of over 40mph for the first time since winning at Doncaster last September.

Tipster: Donn McClean.

Best odds: 11-2.

Ross O’Sullivan had a memorable Galway Festival in 2024 and it looks like he will be a trainer to note during Galway week again in 2025.

Strong Link goes to the 2m4f novices’ hurdle on Thursday with a real chance.  He was a nice winner of his bumper at Wexford at the end of May, when he came from back in the field off a moderate pace to win nicely.  That was his third run in a bumper, and it appeared as if he appreciated the step up to two and a half miles.

He stepped forward from that last time on his debut over hurdles when he won a maiden hurdle at Tipperary, again over 2m4f.

The son of Diamond Boy warmed to his task nicely that day for Keith Donoghue, he travelled well into the home straight and he won cosily in the end. 

The gelding is out of a sister to Sempo, who won his maiden hurdle over 2m6f and who finished fifth in an Irish Grand National.  He is a progressive five-year-old who should relish the test that Galway presents and who could go well in a race that his trainer won last year. 

Tipster: Dave Nevison.

Best odds: 7-1.

Sea Force is taken to reverse form with the prolific Knights Gold after his narrow defeat at Ascot last time out.

William Haggas’s gelding is 2lb better off for getting beaten a nose which should turn things around, and the likelihood of a very strong pace and the application of cheekpices for the first time might make more positive difference than the weight pull. Tom Marquand also takes over.