Channel 4 racing pundit Mick Fitzgerald is hoping Washington DC can help pay for the long weekend
It's a bank holiday in Ireland this week, and this outsider can kick-start the party early!
The Group 3 Glorious Stakes at 2.00pm has lost some of its gloss with the Goldophin-owned Scottish missing out, but Sir Michael Stoute won’t mind as he has Kings Fete () in here. He was arguably a very unlucky loser when pole axed close home in the Duke of Edinburgh at the Royal meeting last month, and he can get the nod over course specialist Mount Logan () who has won on each of his three runs at Goodwood.
In the Thoroughbred Stakes (2.35pm) I also like another Sir Michael horse, Thikriyaat (), to upset odds and challenge the well-fancied Emotionless (). Emotionless looked like a superstar in the making as a two-year-old but problems have beseeched him since, finishing last in the Dubai Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket in October and then only managing fifth place, 10 lengths behind Galileo Gold in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot. Thikriyaat lost his unbeaten tag at Royal Ascot when he finished behind Ribchester in the Jersey Stakes, but he can bounce back to the winner’s enclosure here.
The Golden Mile at 3.10pm could see Richard Fahey among the winners with Third Time Lucky () at a track he has winning form at. Third Time Lucky won the Cambridgeshire by a short head to Master The World last September, and jockey Paul Hanagan will keep it simple on board. Michael Bell’s Franklin D () will be hard to beat after impressing at Newmarket in July, but Third Time Lucky is a great each-way bet.
The King George (3.45pm) is a real speed test and lots of these have winning form at the course. Muthmir () catches the eye for William Haggas, as does Take Cover () who can bounce back from a poor run in the King’s Stand Stakes at the Royal meeting. But Aidan O’Brien’s Washington D C () is primed to run a big race at a very good each-way price. He was not beaten far when fading close home over six furlongs in the July Cup at Newmarket, while he is a Royal Ascot winner on good-to-firm ground as a two-year-old in the Windsor Castle over five furlongs – so speed is not a worry.