Nick Luck’s Blog: Inspiral could Invade Paddington’s winning world

William Hill ambassador Nick Luck has cast his expert eye over day two’s card from Glorious Goodwood and is looking to take on Paddington in the Sussex Stakes.

Goodwood, Wednesday

FRENCH INVASION can strike for Charlie Johnston and Frankie Dettori in Wednesday’s opener at Goodwood (1.50pm) at 9/1. This is a horse bred to be very smart, but he’s had a few issues that delayed his career and which may mean that being kept away from firm ground in the early part of the year was a blessing. While his final effort on the synthetic was a dull one, connections may have had this in mind for a while, necessitating that quick third run. His earlier efforts marked him out as a horse likely to exceed this handicap rating quite significantly.

OLIVIA MARALDA looks to have a very solid chance at 15/2 in an interesting race for the Oak Tree (2.25pm). Although the ground would be an unknown if it became much softer, she has a very nice run behind Zarinsk on debut on soft and didn’t disgrace herself in the mud in the Guineas. She’s in great heart and did well to finish as close as she did in a Jersey when it paid to race up with the pace. This is the hidden class drop back against females and she’s potent at this level.

BIG EVS is in danger of being slightly underestimated for his Windsor Castle win, and can prove the point in the Molecomb (3.00pm) at 9/4. Although Mick Appleby is not a man who fires out juvenile winners, he rarely gets a chance to handle a good one, but has one here judged on every reading of the Ascot performance, particularly when guided by the clock. What we don’t know is how he will handle a different surface, but he ought to be favourite and must be backed as such.

INSPIRAL is a biggish price at 7/2 to better Paddington in the Sussex (3.35pm). A little of her star status has gone after a couple of defeats, but she ran a superb race at Ascot behind a seriously underrated winner, and I like that she’s been kept fresh since. Paddington has thrived on a searching regime these last few months, but his curve must plateau at some point and I’m happy enough to field against him at cramped odds on softish ground at a very different track, with a filly of genuinely high calibre.