Conversation with the owner at Beverley revealed just what he thought of this horse and the fact that the ground had come for him suggested to me he was worth trying at a short price.

I have not heard what went wrong, but hopefully it wasn’t just the weight of my money that caused him to hang as badly as he did. The annoying thing for
me was that I have been on Close To You for his previous win, but wrote him off immediately because he had done so well on very fast ground. He goes for the Dewhurst but will definitely be part of Terry Mills’s long-term plans to win the Derby. I am hopeful that Mills will get me off to a good start at this week’s Glorious Goodwood festival as Evaluator is a horse I have had a lot of time for and I was seriously impressed as well as relieved with his recent Newbury win.

I am only concerned that self-confessed Goodwood hater K Fallon has been booked for the ride and he has a single-figure draw. Hopefully Keiron will banish his Goodwood demons with this one. There is always the hope that Fallon will make his now traditional late show to the races and that the replacement turns out to be a Goodwood specialist!

I will be backing Court Masterpiece to reverse recent All-Weather running with Autumn Glory in the Betfair Cup as I believe that tactics played a big part in that race. Not that they won’t on this most difficult of track to ride but Court Masterpiece has run very well here in the past, has a good draw and comes from a stable in very good form.

Moss Vale has not won the sprint races his talent deserves but as a result he escapes a penalty in Thursday’s King George which should give him a cracking chance.
He ran really well at Royal Ascot and the zero next to his name after that run is a statistical blip as I believe he was set to run a blinder in the July Cup but for getting murdered about a furlong out.

He could quite easily have been placed in that race and that sort of effort in a Group 1 should be enough to get him at least close here.

Best of the week for me comes in the Stewards’ Sprint on Friday where Bonus is set to make up for a desperately unlucky run at Lingfleld when punted on. He finished seventh in but should have won and looks set to regain winning form. At his best he would not be in this consolation event as he is good enough for the maui race, but if he gets through this then the Ayr Gold Cup might be a Possibility as there will be few better handicapped.