RaceiQ hints and tips for the final day of Glorious Goodwood

There have been many unlikely events at the Qatar Goodwood Festival this week and I’m hoping Korkercan catch the mood by springing a surprise in the Coral Stewards’ Cup on Saturday.

A pacemaker winning the week’s showpiece race at 150-1; two stablemates dead-heating in a pattern contest; 26mm of rain falling in 20 minutes and major contests taking place without starting stalls have been among a series of peculiar events on the Sussex Downs over recent days.

Korker landing the big sprint handicap could be the cherry on the cake because he’s not won since the autumn of 2023; is 0/12 when running over 6f; will be able to race off a 2lb lower mark in future; plus will be partnered by a 7lb apprentice who has never ridden at the track.

However, there are enough rays of light in Korker’s RaceiQ data to make him worth risking each-way at the general 28-1 on offer, especially with most firms offering six places.

The RaceiQ draw bias metric suggests his draw in 17 is not ideal (the metric points to low numbers usually being at an advantage) but Summerghand jumped from the same stall when winning in 2020 and nine of the past 15 winners have been drawn 17 or higher.

Being near the pace is usually pivotal and two of the most rapid starters in training, Get It (drawn 27) and Apollo One (28), are not too far from him.

The data tells us this pair are routinely quickest, or nearly quickest, to 0-20mph in their respective races and inevitably they pull other horses with them. Get It, in particular, is a habitual trail-blazer, making all in this race last year (from stall 28) and repeating the dose in a record time in the Wokingham on his latest start. He should make a bold defence of his crown but the slower ground may blunt some of his powers.

By contrast, Korker has spent most of his career dawdling at the start and leave himself playing catch-up, but he invariably finishes his races off strongly.

That was certainly the case in the Ayr Gold Cup last September when, 4lb higher in the ratings than on Saturday, he zoomed from fifteenth to third in the final furlong, thanks to clocking 11.49sec. Nothing else in the 25-runner field could match that finish.

He also kept on in eye-catching fashion in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot in June. Only three of the 28 runners were slower than him to reach 20mph and he was last after the first furlong, a position he still occupied two out at a meeting where the ground was on the firm side and runners were not coming back.

But Korker stayed on stoutly to pass 20 rivals in the final third of the race and ended up being a creditable eighth. The only horse to finish off better than him in the final two furlongs was the likeable More Thunder, the runner-up, who has since gone one better in the Bunbury Cup. 

Korker had also stuck to his task well when third in a 16-runner handicap at York in May, and he was building up a head of steam from an unfavourable track position on the Knavesmire last weekend, in the Sky Bet Dash Handicap, only to be badly squeezed by rivals. It's impossible to gauge where he would have finished without that interference.  

He’s impervious to the going but getting back on some ground with some juice in it may help, if only to slow down the opposition, and Jack Nicholls, who has ridden him in his past four starts, should now be familiar with all his strengths and weaknesses. 

The other horse who interests me on the Goodwood card is Ambiente Friendly, who is available at 9-1 for the opening Coral Glorious Stakes. 

The wheels have fallen off for him since last summer, when he chased home City Of Troy in the Derby and then finished a close third to Los Angeles in the Irish equivalent. His five subsequent starts have been underwhelming.

He has been gelded since we last saw him in action, though, and the hood he was re-equipped with last time in the Wolferton Stakes at Royal Ascot last time has been discarded. Dabbling with a tongue-tie has also been abandoned, plus he has a new jockey. 

Ambiente Friendly was again far too keen in the first half of that Ascot race, with the RaceiQ data informing us he was "very fast" through the first furlong. Not surprisingly, he had nothing left for the closing stages, and in the circumstances he did well to be beaten only four lengths. 

Hopefully, his latest procedure will make him a calmer, more efficient individual and being back in a smaller field – he got rather lit up by being near others last time – should also help. The pick of his RaceiQ data, including on a softish surface at Epsom, gives him outstanding claims.