Romance Ready For Toughest Test

There is no escaping the fact that Godolphin's Beautiful Romance faces the toughest assignment in her relatively brief career when taking on Minding in the G1 Nassau Stakes on the final day of Glorious Goodwood.

But trainer Saeed bin Suroor remains hopeful that his New Approach filly can acquit herself well in a five-runner field that is full of talent and potential at the highest level.

Minding has already won three G1 races this year, including both the 1,000 Guineas and the Investec Oaks at Epsom. But there are strong grounds to suggest that she could find a mile and a quarter her optimum distance.

Saeed appreciates the size of the task facing Beautiful Romance but he could not be happier with her work leading into the race. She finished only fifth in the G2 Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot but has worked well since.

"She won the G2 Middleton Stakes at York, where she showed a lot of class," the trainer pointed out.

"She's in good form, and I am hoping she can run a good race. Any more rain would help," he added.

Beautiful Romance has won three of her eight starts, and she has some good entries in the second half of the season.

Goodwood has served up a fantastic meeting this week. The English garden party atmosphere has been ever present, even with the unwelcome arrival of mist and rain on Thursday. A thrilling finish to the Nassau would be a fitting highlight on the fifth and final day.