It's the final afternoon at Goodwood on Saturday and the chief supporting race to the feature Stewards’ Cup is the Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes, a Group 2 for fillies and mares.
The famous staying contest features several classy females and this year carries a prize of more than £170,000 to the winning connections.
Clive Gildon provides his analysis on the big race on day five of Goodwood's marquee meeting, where they race from 1.50-5.20, with the Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes itself due off at 3.00.
Bet On Goodwood
3.00 - Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes (1m6f, Group 2)
This might be a Group 2 in name but there are a couple of runners who bring Group 1 form to the table and among them is FREE WIND, who should be a class apart if she turns up and shows her best.
The John and Thady Gosden-trained six-year-old had an impossible task when coming up against subsequent Group 1 winner Bluestocking in the Middleton Stakes at York on her seasonal return.
Bluestocking has since gone on to finish second in the King George at Ascot and Free Wind would have found the 1m21/2f trip far from ideal. All of her best form has come over further than that.
Her two best efforts have come at a mile and a half and she definitely stays this distance. She won the Park Hill at Doncaster over this far by seven lengths three years ago, so stamina isn’t a worry.
She disappointed when odds-on favourite for this race last year, but that was on heavy ground and it didn’t take her long to bounce back as she was beaten only a head by Warm Heart in the Yorkshire Oaks at York less than a month later. A reproduction of that form will surely be enough for Free Wind.
The other horse who brings Group 1 form into this race is the French raider Melo Melo and it’s not out of the question that the Francis-Henri Graffard-trained runner could cause Free Wind a problem.
Melo Melo is closely matched with Free Wind if you can take a literal interpretation of her form through Warm Heart, as she finished only a short-neck behind that rival in the Prix Vermeille at Longchamp last season. That is Group 1 form and puts Melo Melo in with a huge chance here.
The problem for Melo Melo fans is that she has yet to reproduce that effort in three subsequent runs and two of her three defeats since have come over this trip, including when turned over at 2-5 in Listed company at Longchamp in May. She will need to improve significantly on that to go well here.
She would probably prefer a bit more ease in the ground to be at her best, but definitely has the ability to win a race like this and is by far the biggest danger to Free Wind in a race that lacks any strength in depth.
Caius Chorister is the only other runner who appears to have any chance on form.
SELECTION: FREE WIND
NEXT BEST: MELO MELO
