How To Bet £20 on the third day of the Qatar Goodwood Festival

Fillies and mares take centre stage on day three of the Qatar Goodwood Festival with the Nassau Stakes sandwiched in between the Lillie Langtry and a two-year-old maiden exclusively for the fairer sex.

The girls will not have the show all to themselves, though, because Frankie Dettori is back in action after his six-day ban.

Dettori will no doubt be keen to make up for lost time and Betway make him 10-11 to return with a winer, and 10-11 not to.

I fancy he will be a savouring a success shortly after 3pm, although he will not be winning the first because as is surplus to requirements.

There is almost certainly more to come from Sing Out Loud and he looks a solid each-way play in the opening race on the card.

Gary Moore’s gelding let down favourite backers when a keeping-on fourth over a mile here on his latest start but he should be forgiven that because the combination of dropping back to a mile, and a race not run at an end-to-end gallop, counted against him. That said, the winner and third have franked the form with subsequent wins.

He is better judged on his previous fluent win over course and distance, which he achieved after catching plenty of eyes on his return at Ascot.

Sing Out Loud has only 8st 1lb to shoulder - he is 5lb higher than for his win - and the booking of Jimmy Quinn, who has ridden just once for Moore in the past five years, also catches the eye.

Simple Verse won the Lillie Langtry Stakes three years ago en route to landing the St Leger and if there is a runner in the field capable of emulating her then surely it is lightly raced Pilaster, who looked something special when surging clear in a 1m4f novice event at Kempton last time.

She jumps in class and has to prove she is as effective on turf, but the daughter of Nathaniel looks capable of taking high rank and there is no reason why she should not be fully effective on turf.

God Given boasts the best overall form and has a likeable attitude but we know she has limitations, whereas Pilaster could be heading for the top.

The Hannon yard has landed six of the past 12 runnings of the Richmond Stakes and Neverland Rock can improve that tally.

He was the last off the bridle and traded at odds-on in the run in the Superlative Stakes at Newmarket last time but he palpably did not stay the seven furlongs - fading in the closing stages as the exciting Quorto kept on strongly.

Don’t be deceived that Neverland Rock had previously won over the trip because it was a lesser race run at a sedate gallop.

I fancy the drop to six furlongs could well be the making of him and Dettori gets the gig. The 8-1 on offer looks generous.

A potentially muddling Nassau Stakes is on the cards because none of the six runners are habitual front-runners, although Veracious did make the running when third in the Coronation Stakes.

She’s the general 11-4 favourite and Dettori will no doubt be aware of the possibility of being able to set easy fractions - much as he did at the Royal Meeting - but the 9-1 available about Billesdon Brook is much too big to resist.

Her emphatic win in the 1,000 Guineas looked no fluke, when the next three home were all Group One winners, and the form has held up.

Laurens, the runner-up, has since bagged two more successes at the highest level and Wild Illusion, who was fourth, has subsequently finished second in the Oaks and Ribblesdale. The latter is half the price of Billesdon Brook for this. Go figure!

Billesdon Brook was unable to replicate her Newmarket running when fourth to Alpha Centauri in the Coronation Stakes but she had little opportunity to show what she could do the way the race panned out - getting caught in traffic after being dropped out, as she usually is, and being never nearer than at the finish behind an exceptional winner.

Her two wins at Goodwood last year, including in near miraculous style on this day a year ago, show her effectiveness at the track and her pedigree points to the longer trip not being a problem. Sean Levey, her usual jockey, is out through injury but 20-year-old Tom Marquand is a capable substitute.

How To Bet £20 on the third day of the Qatar Goodwood Festival:

OPTION ONE:

1.50 Goodwood: Sing Out Loud £2 each-way at 9-1 with Ladbrokes and William Hill

2.25 Goodwood: Pilaster £3 win at a general 3-1

2.25 Goodwood: £1 reverse Exacta Pilaster and God Given

3.00 Goodwood: Neverland Rock £2 win and £2 each-way at a general 8-1

3.35 Goodwood: Billesdon Brook £2 win and £1.50 each-way at a general 8-1

OPTION TWO:

£1.20 Win Lucky Fifteen plus £1 each-way fourfold

1.50 Goodwood: Sing Out Loud (9-1)

2.25 Goodwood: Pilaster (3-1)

3.00 Goodwood: Neverland Rock (8-1)

3.35 Goodwood: Billesdon Brook (8-1)