FAR and away the most impressive two-year-old performance at Goodwood, and indeed anywhere in the world so far in 2019, came from Pinatubo in the Qatar Vintage Stakes on the opening day of Goodwood, which was dealt with in last week’s Time Will Tell.

There was, however, also a smart win from Golden Horde in the Qatar Richmond Stakes on Thursday, when he turned the tables on Threat (and Guildsman) from a Coventry Stakes in which he had raced closer to the strong pace than those rivals.

This pace was more measured and Golden Horde was up with it throughout, running a 110 timefigure with no upgrade. Threat remains on 109, having run to 107 here, though overall this does not look an especially strong renewal of a race that may be rather hanging onto Group 2 status.

Performance

Liberty Beach did not have everything go her way but still came out on top in the Molecomb Stakes on Wednesday and could be capable of a genuinely smart performance in the right circumstances.

Here, she ran a 104 figure to win with some authority from Alligator Alley (encountered traffic, 102) and the strong-finishing Show Me Show Me (100 on sectionals and one of a few recently to boost the form of the Super Sprint at Newbury).

The Mark Johnston-trained Mrs Bouquet is not far behind in sprint juvenile terms after she ran a 97 figure in winning a conditions stakes at the Sussex venue on Wednesday. There were also fairly useful nursery wins from her stable companions Governor Of Punjab (88) and Homespin (93) later in the week.

Perhaps the most interesting races with the future in mind were the two-year-old maidens won by Cobra Eye on the Tuesday (dealt with only in passing last week) and by Persuasion on Saturday.

The former proved to have been run at an overly strong pace, and the winner’s 82 base timefigure goes up to 85 as a result, while Fuwayrit (87) and Lost In Time (84) earned even bigger upgrades in sectional terms behind him.

Persuasion’s overall time compares favourably with others on the card, notably the handicap won by Land Of Legends at the same distance, and the 92 base timefigure (little in the way of upgrades for any of the principals) is a minimum at this stage. This maiden was won by Duke Of Hazzard and Dee Ex Bee in the previous two years and by Dutch Connection in the same Susan Roy colours in the past.