The ‘Glorious’ Goodwood Festival is always a highlight on every racing fan’s calendar, and with the 2024 edition of the meeting fast approaching, excitement is starting to build. The festival sees five days of top-class flat racing action, with thousands of spectators descending upon the West Sussex racecourse to revel in the festivities.
With horse racing fans already starting to analyse the racing betting ahead of Glorious Goodwood 2024, we thought it would be a good time to look back at what happened last year. While there are dozens of top races over the five days, we’re going to focus solely on the winners of the Group 1 contests.
Goodwood Cup – Trueshan
The highlight of day one at Glorious Goodwood is the Goodwood Cup, a Group 1 race run over a distance of two miles. The 2024 race was defined by the brilliance of Hollie Doyle, who expertly rode pre-race favourite Trueshan to a victory by a margin of nearly four lengths. Four-time Goodwood Cup winner Stradivarius had been withdrawn due to the soft ground, and that left the door open for Trueshan.
Having quietly gone about his business in the early stages of the race, Trueshan found top gear in the final furlong, streaking clear of Away He Goes and Sir Ron Priestly to claim a memorable victory and send the spectators into raptures.
“He’s a superstar on this ground,” Doyle said afterwards. “I got some buzz off that – I don’t get too high or too low, but when you get experiences like that you’ve got to make the most of it.”
Sussex Stakes – Alcohol Free
The Sussex Stakes is always a popular race at Glorious Goodwood, with the five-furlong sprint a fast and frantic tussle between some of flat racing’s very best. Last year, it was Alcohol Free who produced the goods when it mattered most, getting the better of pre-race favourite Poetic Flare to win the race by just under two lengths.
It was a glorious moment for jockey Oisin Murphy and trainer Andrew Balding, with the former producing a commanding display in the saddle to hold on for victory over the last 100 yards.
Nassau Stakes – Lady Bowthorpe
Day three of Glorious Goodwood plays host to the Nassau Stakes, run over one mile and two furlongs and open to fillies and mares only. Last year, Lady Bowthorpe produced a regal display to take the spoils for jockey Kieran Shoemark and trainer William Jarvis at odds of 10/3.
The five-year-old mare simply had too much quality for Roger Varian-trained Zeyaadah and the Aidan O’Brien-trained joint favourite Joan Of Arc. The other joint-favourite Audarya was left to settle for a disappointing fifth-place finish, but this race was all about the quality of Lady Bowthorpe.
“It feels fantastic – we’ve dreamt about this for a long time,” trainer Jarvis reflected. “I was confident she’d sta. I was a little worried about Roger’s filly – because she wasn’t stopping – but I knew we had that turn of foot. She relaxes so much better now – she’s a superstar.”
