Goodwood Tip: Highland Knight

The exciting Green Destiny is 3/1 favourite and could be the archetypal Group horse in a handicap. At 3/1 in a 20-runner field, enough can go wrong to make him poor value.

Having only his 14th start, Highland Knight has been equally progressive without gaining the plaudits of the favourite. Last time out he won the Coral Challenge worth £43,000. Some think he was a fortunate winner given a soft lead, but that is not the case. They went a strong gallop for most of the race before Highland Knight made his move with over a furlong to go. The kick from the front off a strong pace takes some class and he wasn’t stopping when passing the post. The next three in the race were all held up, including subsequent winner Sooraah, so I find it difficult to believe there was a favourable pace bias.

Andrew Balding’s gelding ran a similarly good race at Epsom, highlighted in bold. This is how the first five home were described in running.

1. Slowly into stride, held up
2. Chased leading pair, ridden to lead
3. Steadied start and dropped in behind
4. Held up in last pair
5. Held up in touch.

This group finished 2.5 lengths in front of the sixth placed horse. The only horse that could be described as racing prominently was Arabian Spirit who finished over five lengths behind Highland Knight. It was a great performance considering the bias favoured horses from off the pace.

In short, I think this horse can be rated above his last two performances, which on the face of things were good already.