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The Confessor bids to enhance his
enviable Goodwood record in the £20,000 Wright Joinery Company Handicap
(3.10pm, 19 entries) over seven furlongs, the feature handicap on day
one, Thursday, May 23, of the three-day May Festival.
 Henry Candy's charge
has yet to finish out of the first three in five visits to the West
Sussex course and captured a seven-furlong handicap, the Harwoods Racing
Club Handicap, at Glorious Goodwood in early August last year.
He followed up that
victory with a gallant third in the £100,000 Betfair Summer Double Second
Leg Heritage Handicap over the distance at Goodwood later the same month.
The six-year-old
made his seasonal return in the Betfred Mobile Lotto Handicap, also at
seven furlongs, at Goodwood on Opening Saturday, May 4, when he finished
third, beaten two lengths by George Guru, who could reoppose.
Candy said:
"The Confessor has been in good form and is likely to run in the
Wright Joinery Company Handicap.
"I was very
pleased with his reappearance. I thought he would have blown up sooner
than he did and he should come on for that.
"Goodwood is a
quirky course and he is a quirky horse so maybe that is why he runs so
well there. He will always have his odd moments but you don't mind that
when they have a good engine.
"I would be
hoping for nice ground as he doesn't go in the soft any more."
The entries for the
Wright Joinery Company Handicap also include Chandlery, who won
the Group Two Veuve Clicquot Vintage Stakes at Glorious Goodwood in 2011,
Jamie Osborne's Betfair Summer Double International Heritage Handicap
winner Field Of Dream and recent Chester scorer Captain Bertie.
The highlight of the
first day's racing is the Listed £40,000 Height Of Fashion Stakes
(3.45pm), over just short of 10 furlongs, which has attracted 13
three-year-old fillies after re-opening, headed by Harmonic Note,
trained in Ireland by Ger Lyons and owned by Qatar Racing Limited, the
Sir Michael Stoute-trained Elik, who finished fourth in the
Cheshire Oaks on May 8, and recent unlucky Goodwood second Trapeze.
Trapeze, trained by
John Gosden, twice failed to get a clear run before finishing strongly to
snatch runner-up position, a length behind Ribbons, in the mile Nissan
Innovation And Excitement Fillies' Handicap at Goodwood on May 9.
Frankel's
half-brother, Morpheus, could go in search of a first success in
the £10,000 Winner Plant UK Handicap (2.35pm, 21 entries) over a mile and
a furlong. The entries also include exciting Newmarket maiden scorer Goodwood
Mirage, owned by the Goodwood Racehorse Owners Group and trained by
William Knight, Luca Cumani's Ajmany and Aussie Lyrics from
the stable of George Baker.
Racing gets under at
2pm with the £6,000 British Stallion Studs British Racing EBF Fillies'
Maiden over six furlongs and Goodwood's leading trainer Richard Hannon is
responsible seven of the 25 entries. Hannon sent out subsequent QIPCO
1,000 Guineas heroine Sky Lantern to score impressively on her debut in
this race last year.
The longest race on
the six-race card is the £10,000 Hippo Handicap (4.20pm, 26 entries) over
two miles and is followed by the concluding Construction Raceday
Apprentice Handicap (4.55pm, 20 entries) over six furlongs.
There are also
excellent entries for the second day of the May Festival, on Friday, May
24, though the main contest, the £40,000 CASCO EBF Cocked Hat Stakes, a
Listed event over 11 furlongs, has been re-opened.
The exciting May
Festival at Goodwood Racecourse concludes on Saturday, May 25; the
entries for which close on Monday.
Ground
The going at
Goodwood is currently Good.
Clerk of the Course
Seamus Buckley said: "I am very happy with the course - it is in
lovely condition. The rain we had last weekend was very welcome and there
is plenty of moisture in the ground.
"The forecast
is for a drop of rain late on Saturday night into Sunday morning, which
will hopefully materialise and keep the ground where we want it to be.
"If the rain
arrives, we should be starting the three-day May Festival on good
ground."
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