2026 Goodwood & Galway Friday Preview – DS
2026 Goodwood & Galway Friday Tips
Finally, some relief. Bank Of The Boyne placed at 12s and Thisistheway ran an absolute cracker in the Galway Hurdle to place at 40s. Praise the Lord. Hopefully we have now turned the corner, 2026 Goodwood & Galway Friday tips are below.
3.00 Goodwood – Golden Mile Handicap (Heritage)
Back in 2022 I found Orbaan in this at 33s and I was tempted to put up Darkness this year given his course form and David O’Meara’s mustard record in this race. However, he’s drawn 17 and it will be a big ask for him to get competitive from there.
One that is nicely drawn that might be capable of going well at a price is the Ian Williams trained Ozat. This 5yo won three races when trained in France and was bought for 75k at the Arqana Sales last November. Since joining Williams, he has posted form figures of 0080, which probably explains his generous odds, but that penultimate run at Ascot when he was eighth in the Royal Hunt Cup would give him a squeak here.
He was drawn low in that contest and it was a day when high draws were favoured. He missed the break but he made up plenty of ground and in the end, he was only 4l behind the winner Rogue Diplomat and he was fourth of 20 in his group, just 1.5L behind the ‘winner’ on the far side of the track.
Now, he does have to bounce back from a particularly poor run at Sandown last time but I’m hoping that was too bad to be true. If he can reproduce that Hunt Cup effort, Ozat can outrun his odds of 25/1.
2026 Goodwood & Galway Friday tip: Ozat e/w @ 25/1 (5 places)
3.35 Goodwood – King George Stakes (Group 2)
So, whose turn will it be to come out on top in this sprint? The C&D winner and our Commonwealth Cup fancy Spicy Marg is interesting but unfortunately, she isn’t a 66-1 shot here today.
One that might be able to spring a surprise here at a bigger price is the Kevin Ryan trained son of Pinatubo, Dickensian. He’s won two of his nine starts, including a Listed race at York on his seasonal reappearance. He boasted some smart placed form as a 2yo which included a placed effort here in the Molecomb behind Lady Iman.
This is a horse that enjoys coming from off the pace, which is just as well as he can often be a step slow from the gates. That was the case in the Palace Of Holyrood handicap at Ascot where he never laned a blow but it was a much better run than his finishing position of seventh suggests in a 5f listed race at York last time.
shade Unlucky
In that race he finished just 2l behind the winner Redorange and given that he was a bit short of room at a crucial time, he was arguably a shade unlucky not to finish closer. He was only a neck behind American Affair (10/1 here), 1l behind JM Jungle (also 10/1 here) and in behind him was Naana’s Shadow, who absolutely bolted up in a handicap here on Thursday.
There will hopefully be a decent gallop on here with the likes of Jakajaro, Night Raider and possibly Partisan Hero all possible pace angles and that might set this up for Dickensian. He’ll need luck in running but at odds of 25/1, it is worth chancing that he gets the gaps and runs on late for a place.
2026 Goodwood & Galway Friday tip: Dickensian e/w @ 25/1 (4 places)
6.00 Galway – Blazers Handicap Chase (140 = 11st12lb)
I’ve covered this race for the Racing Post spotlights and Antrim Coast was my selection. He’s 2lb lower than when runner up last year and he will surely run a big race but he is too short for this blog.
At bigger odds, maybe Moonovercloon can make his presence felt on just his second start for Declan Queally. He too is a former runner up in this race, beaten a nose two years ago off a mark of 129 when in the care of Matthew Smith.
He lost his way after that run and his form was mostly poor last season and connections decided to move him to Declan Queally. After a 244-day break, he made his stable debut and seasonal reappearance over hurdles at Kilbeggan and the way he was ridden suggested that was a prep run for a bigger day.
Given his fine performance in this in 2024, and his overall course form figures of 44270 (was out of sorts for the last two unplaced runs), surely this has been a long-term plan, a visor goes on and he is 3lb lower than he was in 2024. A leap of faith is required to fancy him on recent form but with odds of 20/1 on offer, I’ll take a chance on him e/w.
2026 Goodwood & Galway Friday tip: Moonovercloon e/w @ 20/1 (5 places)
7.40 Galway – Arthur Guinness Handicap (70 = 10st)
There is no doubt that a low draw at Galway is beneficial but in this particular race, five of the last ten winners have been drawn 11 or higher so it isn’t impossible to win from a high draw, once you don’t miss the break too badly.
Andy Oliver had a nice handicap winner here on Thursday and he runs In The Gloaming here. A son of Coulsty, he ran okay in a couple of his maidens and while he was only sixth on his handicap debut at Navan (6f, good) a few weeks ago, he wasn’t beaten that far after getting badly outpaced and the way he finished suggested this sort of trip might suit.
Andy Oliver has opted to put cheekpieces on him now and given his sire, I am hoping that he improves for a bit of cut in the ground. Obviously, being drawn in 15 is not ideal but if Gary Carroll can get him out of the stalls quick and get a half-decent early position, hopefully In The Gloaming will stay on well up the hill and run into the places. At odds of 25/1, he is the e/w selection.
