Five days of thrilling action set against the magnificent backdrop of the Sussex countryside, The Goodwood Festival – popularly known as 'Glorious Goodwood' – is one of the highlights of the flat-racing season.
Some of the world's best thoroughbred horses, jockeys and trainers compete in 35 races over five days, for a total prize pool of £5.5 million.
The most prestigious race of the Goodwood Festival is the £1 million Qatar Sussex Stakes, a one-mile race for horses three years or older.
In 2011, the legendary Frankel, the top-rated flat horse in racing history, owned by Prince Khaled Abdullah, beat defending champion Canford Cliffs by an impressive five lengths.
A year later, Frankel made history by becoming the first horse to win the Sussex Stakes twice. Other famous winners of what's become known as the "duel of the Downs" include Giant's Causeway, Rock Of Gibraltar and Brigadier Gerard.
The Qatar Goodwood Festival gets underway in 2019 with the Opening Ceremony on Tuesday 30 July. The Tuesday highlight is Goodwood’s newest Group 1, the Qatar Goodwood Cup worth £500,000. Stradivarius narrowly denied Big Orange his third straight win in the race in 2017.
Wednesday 31 July will see the £1million Qatar Sussex Stakes being run. It is one of the highlights of the flat racing season and has previously been won by the peerless Frankel and the French racing sensation Solow.
Ladies’ Day on Thursday 1 August is the most glamorous day of the meeting, and is truly the place to see and be seen. The prestigious Group 1 Qatar Nassau Stakes is the highlight of the eight-race card and is worth £600,000.It is also one of the busiest days for Glorious Goodwood betting. Previous winners include Ouija Board, Minding and Midday.
Friday's (2 August) seven races, including four group races, bring the sport’s biggest names to Goodwood. The £300,000 Group 2 Qatar King George Stakes is one of the highlights of the year and was won in 2018 by the Charlie Hills-trained Battaash.
Saturday 3 August will witness the iconic six furlong cavalry charge of the Qatar Stewards Cup with over 20 sprinters thundering down the Goodwood straight. Always a popular race with the punters because of the attractive Qatar Goodwood Festival odds , the £250,000 Stewards Cup takes centre stage for the final day of the Festival. Previous winners of this famous sprint include Loch Song and Dancing Star.
Cross Counter, who broke the track record when winning the Gordon Stakes at Glorious Goodwood in the summer became the first British trained horse to win the Melbourne Cup.
With Goodwood now tied in to Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne through their new joint social media venture of World Horseracing Group, the result just perfect for the promotion of their respective Festivals.
Throughout the five days of the 2018 Goodwood Festival there was plenty of owners with Australian aspirations.
When Godolphin’s Cross Counter won the Gordon Stakes with relative ease the three-year-old was quoted at 20/1 to win the Melbourne Cup, he duly obliged at Flemington at 7/1 on the day.