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Published 9.45am - 30/07

HAATEM (4:10 Goodwood - Regent Seven Seas Cruises Bentinck Conditions Stakes) was a strong fancy in this column at Royal Ascot.

Watching it back was still painful as James Doyle struggled to find any racing room at all in the Ascot straight. However, having drawn a line through that run behind Map of Stars this does seem to be a very good opportunity for Haatem to gain some compensation on these terms.

In receipt of weight from most of his rivals, he is weighted to go very well and ran much better than the bare result might suggest when making his seasonal comeback at the track in May. He was the fastest horse in the race in the 7th furlong that day before tiring in the closing stages and his trainer's own comments on the day highlighted that there were bigger targets ahead.

He won the Vintage Stake at this meeting in 2023 and has a very strong record at this time of year. Well drawn in stall 8, he should be able to track the pace set by the likes of Boiling Point and Naqeeb and with a clear run, he should be able to build on the promise that he showed here earlier in the season.

ASTRACORNUS (5:20 Goodwood - World Pool Bet With The Tote Handicap) was unfortunate to be beaten on his second run in handicaps at Newbury last time.

He was carried to his right inside the final two furlongs and was unlucky to be beaten a neck. The winner, Queen's Companion, recorded a closing time of 35.12s for the final 3f, slower than Astracornus who clocked 34.99s over the same part of the course, meaning he was 0.13s faster than the winner in the closing stages.

He now steps up another furlong at Goodwood and given the way he won at Nottingham the time before, where a target to aim at in the home straight saw him doing his best work late on, which is backed up by the data. His late speed was 37mph, which was over 1.5mph faster than his closest rival, as he stayed on strongly to beat a pair of subsequent winners (Kalokalo and Mr Bollinger) by over 2 lengths.

Having come up slightly short at Newbury, he gets into Friday’s race having only gone up 1lb in the weights, meaning he carries just 8st 7lb. The in-form Saffie Osborne takes the ride and she is currently riding at a 20% strike rate over the last two weeks. Given her ability to produce horses in the later stages of a race, Astracornus could be able to improve up in grade with the strong early pace that is forecast looking likely to suit. 

You can find sectional times, stride data, speed statistics and jumping performance metrics on the RESULTS page of attheraces.com.

The global database of sectional times, stride data and performance metrics is available through Total Performance Data.