Marten Julian’s Weekly Roundup 29 July 2024

I never had much of a feel for Saturday’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes but, even so, it was negligent of me not to make any mention of the winner Goliath.

One of my cardinal rules from my earliest years has been to ensure that in a big race preview every horse, even presumed pacemakers, receives a mention and this should especially have applied last weekend, given that I did not have a particularly strong opinion about the leading contenders.

Even so, with hindsight, I would not have been able to make out a strong case for Goliath.

I had not seen any of his races in France and only vaguely noticed his performance in the Hardwicke Stakes, where he plugged on steadily to chase home Isle Of Jura who had done most of his recent racing in Bahrain.

In the Hardwicke Goliath was keen for much of the race so, in the circumstances, did well to stay on into second but he was still three and three-quarter lengths adrift of the winner, with Middle Earth and Candleford in third and fourth.

Isle Of Jura and Goliath were rated on 112 at the time, 11lbs below Rebel’s Romance and Auguste Rodin, and Goliath was tackling Group 1 company for the first time on Saturday.

It could have been argued that in the light of the case made by some for Middle Earth then Goliath, who was three-quarters of a length ahead of that horse at Royal Ascot, warranted consideration at three times the price.

The other factor that needs to be considered in the light of Aidan O’Brien’s post-race comments is the ground.

Officially described as good to firm, in the view of O’Brien – who, as usual, walked the course beforehand – it was “nowhere near good to firm anywhere. It was good, good to soft in places.”

Goliath’s four victories had been on going described as good to soft, or softer, but his best run had been on the good to firm ground in the Hardwicke.

The finishing distances of the King George were certainly more akin to those you would find on an easy surface and the time of the race was not particularly quick.

I ended up not holding a particularly strong view on the race – my selection on the day was Luxembourg, who lost a front and back shoe which, according to the trainer, also “suggests tacky ground” …  a consequence with which I was not familiar.

But whatever the truth of the matter, I could not have made out a case for Goliath, a horse who had never tackled Group 1 company before and had the best part of a stone to find with the market leaders.

Last week I brought to your notice the apparent quality of two-year-old fillies in Ireland this season and this week I want to highlight a line of form that has caught my eye with the colts.

Jessica Harrington has had eight two-year-old winners this season and I was impressed with the way her Green Impact won the 1m maiden at Leopardstown last Thursday, staying on well to beat Ballydoyle newcomers Delacroix and Scandinavia.

On his debut the Wootton Bassett colt had run second to Dermot Weld’s Hazdann in a race where the fifth and sixth have subsequently won. The third home there was Currawood, who next time ran second to Aidan O’Brien’s very well-regarded The Lion In Winter.

The trainer says Green Impact is a “very big and laid back horse” so he may be brought along steadily with next year uppermost in mind.

I think this is a Group-class level of form and I will be following the collateral links over the next few weeks.

Bye for now

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