Irish horses to watch at Glorious Goodwood 2023

Glorious Goodwood is one of the world’s premier flat racing meetings and the festival will take place from August 1-5, 2023.

There are plenty of races to get excited about including the King George Stakes, Nassau Stakes, Sussex Stakes and the Goodwood Cup. Before we take a closer look at some of Ireland’s top contenders in 2023, we need to get to know the circuit a little better.

Goodwood Racecourse

Goodwood Racecourse is in Chichester, West Sussex and known as a right handed track. However, for races over 2 miles, riders will also take a left turn at the start of the race.

The flat course gives riders stunning views of the South Downs and the two main right-hand turns are one mile from the start line and on the final bend. The straight may seem like the easiest part of the track from the stands, but many riders ran into trouble on the straight at Goodwood, leading to spectacular finishes.

Soulmate

Now we come to the first of our Irish horses to watch at the Glorious Goodwood Festival 2023. Soulmate is expected to compete in the Nassau Stakes and will face favorite Blue Rose Cen. Soul Sister arrives at Goodwood after finishing third in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp in July.

She performed well under pressure in the closing stages but lacked the pace to challenge the winner. However, strong wins in the Musidora Stakes and Epsom Oaks make Soul Sister a player to watch at Goodwood this year.

Coltrane

Coltrane had a fantastic year and quickly became a top contender for Group 1 races. After winning the Coral Marathon at Sandown last season, Coltrane won the Group 2 Doncaster Cup and finished second in the British Champions Long Distance Cup. Coltrane competed in the 2022 Goodwood Cup and finished fourth, but the three horses that finished ahead of Coltrane will not race this year.

He finished second in the 2023 Ascot Gold Cup and going down to 2 miles will suit Coltrane as he aims to give the crowds something to cheer about on the opening day of the festival.

Orazio

The Stewards’ Cup, which will take place on the final day of Glorious Goodwood, appears to be an open race and includes Irish competitor Orazio. Trained by Charles Hills, the colt started the season full of promise and won the Weatherbys Digital Solutions Handicap at Newmarket, pulling away from the rest of the field in the final stages of the race.

Moving to Ascot and Orazio looked very comfortable winning the Peroni Nastro Azzurro “Live Every Moment” handicap, swerving off the field to win by more than two lengths. Orazio will be challenged by Saint Lawrence, another Irish horse to watch, who finished first in the Wokingham Stakes at Ascot, a race in which Orazio finished sixth.

These are just a few of the Irish horses to watch at Glorious Goodwood and there are sure to be many more who will be confident of doing well throughout the week.