Stradivarius brings star power to Goodwood Cup

The three days of Glorious Goodwood, this Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in England, get off to a grand start with Tuesday’s featured Goodwood Cup.

While there is squishiness in the European mile and middle-distance division, the stayers’ category is in robust health with Stradivarius at the top of the mountain and set to start as the strong favorite in the two-mile Goodwood Cup.

Top-level stayers typically hit their peak during their 5-year-old season at earliest, and it’s a little scary considering how good the 4-year-old Stradivarius might be if he still is developing. John Gosden trains the Sea the Stars colt, who signaled his quality with a third last October in the Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot and has confirmed it in two races this year. Stradivarius won the Yorkshire Cup in his 4-year-old debut and came right back with a decisive win in the 2 1/2-mile Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.

Should Stradivarius falter, there are plenty of seriously good horses set to step forward Tuesday with the Goodwood Cup also expected to lure Order of St George, Torcedor, and the improving 4-year-old Call To Mind, who was last seen scoring an easy win in the Belmont Gold Cup.

Tuesday supporting stakes also hold appeal. The Group 2 Lennox Stakes over seven furlongs has Tip Two Win as a mild favorite and is expected to include Suedois, winner of the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile last fall at Keeneland. The Group 2 Vintage Stakes, also at seven furlongs, is an early barometer of European 2-year-old talent.

The Wednesday feature, the Group 1 Sussex, also is the meeting’s high point, and the straight-course mile is headed by a pair of 3-year-olds, Without Parole and Expert Eye. Without Parole, bred and owned by John and Tanya Gunther and trained by Gosden, has won all four of his starts and aced his Group 1 debut capturing the St. James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot. Expert Eye failed to live up to early season expectations, but dropped a strong hint he is coming around for trainer Michael Stoute when he won the Group 3 Jersey Stakes by 4 1/2 lengths on June 20. The 3-year-olds get seven pounds from the older horses in the Sussex – and probably don’t need even that much to compete.

Thursday’s feature, the Group 1 Nassau for fillies and mares, won’t include the most exciting horse in Europe right now, the 3-year-old Alpha Centauri, and has Rhododendron and Veracious at the head of the early betting market.