Stuck In The Mud

Ben Morgan didn’t find Goodwood so glorious during a frustrating month

- Ben Morgan

The only bet I could muster up in the run up to Glorious Goodwood was a £15 e/w wager on Jack Hobbs in the King George. The ground was perfect for him, the step back up to 1m 4f suited and everything looked in place for a big run. Unfortunately, as soon as he turned for home he was off the bridle and dropped through the field like a stone, which was incredibly hard to watch.

I remember feeling the same frustration with Found last year as she kept getting beat but then went on and awarded my unwavering faith by winning The Arc impressively. Needless to say, I hope Jack Hobbs can pull off a similar feat.

Glorious Goodwood arrived but was met by heavy showers which changed the ground dramatically and dashed most of my hopes for the week in the process. Fortunately, Expert Eye ran before any of the rain came and confirmed to everyone that he has a huge amount of potential. In my view he looks as exciting as any horse since Frankel, partly because his trainer would not try him so highly at two if he never rated him as top class. The way he travelled past some very good two-year olds was taking and when Atzeni went for him he lengthened well and pulled away.

Like Sir Michael Stoute said afterwards, he wouldn’t want too much further than a mile as I think he might not find as much once off the bridle due to his high cruising speed, but either way he looks a juvenile to follow. A £10 win bet returned £50 and that was as good as it got all week.

A pattern was emerging as every hour, one of my fancies got pulled out due to the ground. I had already backed Headway, a solid second in the Coventry at Ascot, when his owners’ racing manager stated he probably won’t like the ground. I sat waiting for him to be pulled out, but he wasn’t and he duly got beat which left me rather annoyed as £20 went down the drain.