Are you up for Goodwood?
Whether you are looking for some of the most beautiful scenery anywhere, or a mad horse racing spread bettor craving for top quality racing, Glorious Goodwood simply has it all. Widely regarded as the most beautiful racecourse in the world, the five days at the end of July are difficult to eclipse for any racing fan and perhaps the first big highlight is Wednesday's Sussex Stakes. The two power houses of Coolmore and Godolphin have dominated this race over the past decade, with three wins apiece, and those who like a spread bet will be keeping an eye out on those declared by the boys in two shades of blue. The race is open to three-year-olds and above, but spread bettors should note that three-year-olds have won six of the last ten and 23 of the last 33 (70%) since 1975 when the race was opened to five-year-olds and older.
Some of the best milers have competed in the race in recent years and it may therefore be unsurprising to winning distance spread betting punters that there have been some extremely tight finishes. Four of the last six winning margins have been by a head or less and no horse has won the race by more than 2 lengths in the past ten years. There have been four winning favourites in the past decade which gives both buyers and sellers of SP's with Sporting Index a glimmer of hope, but Henrythenavigator in 2008 was the first winning jolly since Rock of Gibraltar in 2002. The biggest recent priced winner was Reel Buddy in 2003 at 20/1 who gave Pat Eddery one of his last ever big victories.
One of the biggest betting races of the year takes place on Saturday and it is usually a thriller for any spread betting advocate. The 6 furlong cavalry charge that is the Steward's Cup is one of the biggest sprint handicaps of the entire season and is widely regarded as a commentator's nightmare, with runners fanning across the track. Spread SP buyers had a day to remember 12 months ago and will be praying for a repeat of Conquest's 40/1 victory which gave trainer William Haggas a 1-2. However, this race hasn't been all that great for buyers prior to last year, with four of the previous five winners priced at 7/1 or under.
The 9 stone barrier has traditionally been one that spread bettors have stayed away from in this race, as this burden was only carried successfully to victory twice between 1986 - 2000. In recent years though, those horses at the top of the handicap have come away with the spoils and five of the last six winners have lugged at least 8st11lbs. Those looking to take on the Sporting Index traders on the outright market will be aware that nine of the last ten winners have been aged either four or five, whilst spread winning distance punters will more than likely accept that this race will be very close - the last three margins have been a head, a short-head and a neck.
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