GET It is back for more in this afternoon’s Coral Stewards’ Cup on the final day of the festival of racing at Goodwood.

There is a real chance that George Baker’s horse can become the first horse since Commanche Falls in 2021/’22, and just the second since the 1960s, to win back-to-back renewals of one of the most competitive sprint handicaps on the calendar too, because he is not much higher in the handicap than he was last year, and he goes into the race in better form.

He was well beaten in a five-furlong handicap at Ascot last July on his final run before he sprang a 40/1 shock in the Stewards’ Cup. He skipped down the near rail last year, in front pretty much all the way, and got home by a neck from Apollo One.

He had a fairly fruitless time of it in Bahrain in the early part of this year, but he returned to Britain in style, winning a six-furlong handicap at Ascot in early May. Then he went back to Ascot in June and won the Wokingham.

He raced off a mark of 100 in the Wokingham and, again, he made all under Seamie Heffernan.

He only just held on, and he is 4lb higher now, but he goes into the race in great form, and, while he goes well at Ascot, Goodwood’s downhill run should really suit his style of racing better.

The standard time for Goodwood’s six-furlong run is two and a half seconds faster than the standard time for Ascot’s.

He is drawn high again in stall 27, just one away from where he was last year, and you can see Pat Cosgrave endeavouring to repeat the tactics that he employed successfully last year. You can see him leading for most of the way, if not for all of the way.

But the market has cottoned onto him now, you won’t get the 40/1 that you would have got about him last year, nor the 28/1 at which he was returned in the Wokingham and, at a bigger price, Circe could represent better value.

Upward trajectory

Drawn in stall 23, she could get a nice tow into the race from Get It. Richard Hannon’s filly goes into the race on a serious upward trajectory too. She has won three of her last four races.

Her one defeat in that time was at Epsom on Derby day, when the ground softened and she chased a fast pace. Even at that, she looked the likely winner when she moved to the front at the furlong marker, but she just got run out of it inside the final 200 yards.

She bounced out of Epsom though and she won last time at Newmarket off the same mark of 91. The handicapper raised her to a mark of 97 after that, but she was impressive in winning, she won with plenty in hand, and she continues her upward march. She will have Ryan Moore for company, and she could step forward again.

Good ground would be ideal, but it isn’t that she doesn’t handle easy ground, she won her maiden at Doncaster as a juvenile on soft ground. She has won over seven furlongs and over a mile, but she is probably at her best now in at a fast-run six-furlong race.

Hammer The Hammer and Elmonjed are players too, and Strike Red is shaping like there could be another big one in him again soon, but Circe is the bet.

Coral Summer Handicap

Sam Hawkens is the bet at the prices in the Coral Summer Handicap earlier in the day. Winner of his maiden over a mile and a half on heavy ground at Sandown last year for Richard Hannon and Westerberg, the son of Galileo has won two of his three races this season for William Haggas.

Winner of a Newcastle handicap in May off a mark of 81, he made light of a 7lb hike when he stepped up slightly in trip and stayed on well next time to get home by a neck from Savrola in a one-mile-five-furlong handicap at Hamilton last time.

Savrola enhanced the form of that race when he went to Newcastle next time and won the Northumberland Vase. He is now rated 4lb higher than he was when he finished second to Sam Hawkens. Sam Hawkens gets to race today off a mark of 92, also 4lb higher than his Hamilton mark, and that is fair.

He is a really nicely-bred individual, and there is plenty of speed in his pedigree, but he is by Galileo and he stays well.

He finished second in a novice stakes at Goodwood on soft ground on his racecourse debut, so he should be fine on the track, should the ground soften again a little. A four-year-old who has raced just 10 times in his life, he is a progressive young stayer from whom there could be more to come.

Sam Hawkens, 1.55 Goodwood, 5/1 (generally), 1pt win

Circe, 3.05 Goodwood, 10/1 (generally), 1pt each-way