2026 Goodwood & Galway Saturday Tips – DS
2026 Goodwood & Galway Saturday Tips
Any hopes that we had turned a corner were dashed at Goodwood on Friday. Ozat enjoyed a luckless passage in the Golden Mile and the front runner never came back in the sprint. We still have two runners at Galway so all hope is not yet lost. We now have the final preview on a busy week, Dave Stevos’ 2026 Goodwood & Galway Saturday tips are below.
1.50 Goodwood – Summer Handicap (Class 2)
A very competitive handicap to start the day. The one I am pretty sweet on here is the George Baker trained 4yo, Nesthorn. By Expert Eye, this gelding was a two-time winner in France when trained by Henri Graffard. George Baker splashed out 60k to purchase him at Tattersalls in October and he instantly earned back a fair chunk of that outlay when winning 38k in a 1m2f Bahrain handicap in December.
His next three runs in Bahrain weren’t as good and on his return to Britain, Baker stepped him up to 1m4f at Royal Ascot. He wasn’t disgraced in seventh and his next run, again over 1m4f at Ascot, saw him get a bit closer in fourth, beaten 2.75l behind Tryfan. He pulled like a dog in the early stages of that race so he did well to get so close to the winner in a contest where it paid to be close to the early pace.
Up In Trip
Baker steps his charge up in trip now and I am hoping that with Burdett Road and Sing Us A Song in the field, they might go a decent clip from the outset here which will hopefully enable Nesthorn to settle better. If he does, he has a decent turn of foot and he should be finishing faster than most.
Benoit De La Sayette was on board for his Bahrain win and he has a pretty good record when riding for this yard in the UK (3/14 with another seven top 4 finishes). It was also encouraging to see Baker have one run well at big odds here on Friday. At odds of 40/1, Nesthorn is the each way selection.
2026 Goodwood & Galway Saturday tip: Nesthorn e/w @ 40/1 (4 places)
2.25 Goodwood – Glorious Stakes (group 3)
I was almost tempted by the rag Midak here but there doesn’t seem to be much early pace in this race so in all probability, he’ll be too keen if they don’t go a decent gallop. On paper, this looks like it will turn into a final three furlong sprint, and that will really suit Opportunity but unfortunately, he hasn’t been missed by the bookies.
One that might be capable of running well in a slowly run affair is the Roger Varian trained Enfjaar. By Lope De Vega, this horse has yet to win in stakes’ company but he’s run some blinders in defeat in Listed company, including when narrowly denied over 1m2f at this venue on his seasonal return in May.
Held Up
Last time out in the Wolferton at Ascot he was held up in midfield and raced keenly before keeping on into a 5l eighth. I think on that evidence, it looks well worth trying this longer trip with him and my hope is that Ray Dawson doesn’t try to restrain him too much and lets him sit close to, or just in behind, the early pace.
If it does turn into a late dash, he should be quick enough to compete and while he is no banker to stay 1m4f on breeding, that last Ascot run suggests that he might just see it out okay. He has run crackers on both previous visits to this venue and with odds of 12/1 on offer, it is worth taking a chance on Enfjaar,
2026 Goodwood & Galway Saturday tip: Enfjaar e/w @ 12/1
3.35 Goodwood – Stewards’ Cup Handicap (Heritage)
Rajasinghe is an ‘unfashionable’ sire that is starting to make a proper name for himself. We already got on the gravy train thanks to Two Tribes winning for us at Ascot last season and indeed, he went on to win this race on his next start. That son of Rajasinghe is back to defend his crown but I am going to side with his stablemate and another son of Rajasinghe, Run Boy Run.
A high draw has tended to be an advantage in this race in recent renewals and Run Boy Run has a nice posi in stall 24. He won the Ayr Gold Cup on soft ground last season off a mark of 95 and while he remains 7lb above that rating, his close fourth at Ascot on his penultimate start off 103 proved he can be very competitive off this sort of mark.
Late Gains
Yes, he finished down the field in the 5f race won by his stable companion Twilight Calls here earlier this week but this is more his trip and it wasn’t as bad a run as his finishing position suggests as he made late gains and was only 4l behind the winner at the line.
George Wood is back on board and he’s ridden for the last three of his six career victories. My biggest concern is that this horse is being campaigned for another tilt at the Ayr Gold Cup but the fact he tried so hard at Ascot last month, and also the fact that he ran a cracker to finish fourth in this last year, have somewhat allayed my fears.
With six places and odds of 33/1 on offer, Run Boy Run is the e/w selection.
2026 Goodwood & Galway Saturday tip: Run Boy Run e/w @ 33/1 (6 places)
2.37 Galway – Tribes Handicap Hurdle (140 = 11st 12lb)
I’m writing this before the race has been priced up, which isn’t ideal, but I’ve got a fair idea what the odds will be and in the hope that he gets a run, I’m going to back the second reserve Metamorpheus here.
Trained by Andrew McNamara, who has already had a winner here this week, this 7yo son of Morpheus has previous in this race. Back in 2024 he was a fine fifth, beaten 5.75l off a mark of 117. Last year, he ran in it again and was nowhere, but he had already run a big race at the meeting earlier in the week, again finishing fifth over C&D off a mark of 111.
Well Handicapped
If he gets in here, he’ll be 1lb ‘wrong’ but he’ll still be running off a mark of 104 so on his 2024 run in this, he must have every chance of hitting the frame off this rating. He comes into the race in good form, having run well on his last start over hurdles at Downpatrick in June and again on the Flat when narrowly denied at Limerick three weeks ago.
The question is, will he get in? Well, his stablemate Berto Ramirez ran just two days ago and he’s been declared, as has the Galway Hurdle winner Putapoundinthejar. There’s another couple of runners that have also run earlier this week so I would imagine there’s a decent chance of there being at least two non-runners. If he doesn’t get in, we’ll get our money back in any case and as I write this, he’s opened up at 18/1 with a couple of firms. At those odds, Metamorpheus is worth backing e/w.
2026 Goodwood & Galway Saturday tip: Metamorpheus e/w @ 18/1 (6 places)
3.12 Galway – Boyles Handicap Hurdle (Listed)
By far the most interesting horse at a price in this valuable race is the Harry Rogers trained 6yo Grann’s Boy. He finished well beaten in the Tribes at this meeting last year but this trip is more his bag and Harry Rogers is a great man to target valuable handicap hurdles at big festivals.
I’m hoping that he put a ring around this race after Grann’s Boy ran a massive race over C&D back in October. Running off 128, he found just Sportinthepark too good by 0.5l. That run came on yielding ground and conditions should be pretty similar tomorrow.
Encouraging Return
Since his encouraging seasonal reappearance run on the Flat in March, he hasn’t really fired but I’m hoping his last three runs were designed to get his handicap mark dropped and he now pitches up off 1lb lower than he was when second here in October.
Unfortunately, his usual partner Darragh O’Keefe has to ride for his boss here but Sean Flanagan has ridden him before and he was fourth on Cleopatra’s Needle for Rogers here earlier this week at big odds. Grann’s Boy is ground versatile, he’s on a competitive mark and he’s got C&D form and with odds of 25/1 available, he looks a cracking e/w bet.
