Baccarat & Hold Tight Up For Stewards' Cup

Baccarat and Hold Tight go for glory in the six-furlong Qatar Stewards' Cup (15.45hrs local time), Europe's richest sprint handicap worth £250,000, on the fifth and final day of the Qatar Goodwood Festival, Saturday, July 30.

Baccarat (Charlie Appleby/James Doyle, 9st 10lb) has to concede weight to all but one of his 27 rivals. The seven-year-old has already captured two major UK handicaps over six furlongs, including a decisive victory in the Wokingham Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2014.

He made a winning debut for Godolphin when readily taking another six-furlong turf handicap at Meydan, UAE, in February and returns from a break after fading to eighth in a Windsor Listed race over the same trip on May 23.

Four-year-old Hold Tight (Saeed bin Suroor/James McDonald, 8st 12lb), a winner over six and seven furlongs, ran well on his latest start in a seven-furlong Newmarket handicap on July 8, when he lost three places near the line to finish sixth.

Hold Tight is drawn 17, while Baccarat emerges from stall 22.

Charlie Appleby commented: "Baccarat won the Wokingham Handicap two years ago and seems to be suited by these big handicaps. He has been going well at home and hopefully he can put his best foot forward."

Saeed bin Suroor said: "Hold Tight has been working nicely and the drop back to six furlongs will suit him. Any rain would be helpful, as good ground would be ideal, but he heads to Goodwood in good order."

Godolphin's other runners on Saturday also include progressive three-year-old Dubawi colt Move Up (Saeed bin Suroor/James Doyle, 9st 7lb), who tackles 12 furlongs for the first time when top-weight in the 16-runner Qatar Handicap (14.35hrs local time). He triumphed in the final strides to win an Ascot handicap over two furlongs shorter on July 9, his first start of 2016.

Saeed bin Suroor explained: "Move Up is a colt who is improving physically all of the time and is a horse for the future. A mile and a half should be fine and I am looking forward to seeing how he gets on."

Dubawi colt Hornsby (James Doyle, 8st 13lb, drawn 15), a Doncaster winner over a mile in June, and Raven's Pass colt Venturous (James McDonald, 9st 1lb, drawn four), who was fourth in a valuable six-furlong York handicap in June, both line up for Charlie Appleby in the Qatar Handicap (16.55hrs local time) - a seven-furlong contest for three-year-olds with a 16-strong field.

Charlie Appleby reported: "Dropping back to seven furlongs will be in Hornsby's favour. He is a horse that I like and hopefully he can get back to winning ways.

"I hope that the step up to seven furlongs will see some improvement from Venturous and his work at home has been as good as always."