After landing the Yorkshire Cup with Rahiebb last week, I’m on the lookout for more successful Friday horse racing tips. Goodwood and Haydock begin strong weekend cards, with my nap of the day coming from the West Sussex track.
Friday Horse Racing Tips: Fillies with Firepower
| Bet Type | Horse | Race | Odds | Bookmaker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Bet | Lazurite | 2:32 Goodwood | SP | N/A |
| Next Best | Sky Majesty | 2:55 Haydock | 2/1 | BetGoodwin |
| Value Bet | Fashion's Fancy | 1:45 Haydock | SP | N/A |
| Value Bet | Ice Max | 4:17 Goodwood | 5/1 | William Hill |
Odds correct at 15:00 BST on 21/05/26. Odds subject to change.
These are the best horse racing bets for Friday afternoon. Early prices are supplied by BetGoodwin and William Hill, two of our best horse racing bookmakers.
My best bet of the day is not in one of the early price races. You can check the odds as they filter through, or wait until 8am on Friday and utilise the Best Odds Guaranteed feature, available at a number of our top sites.
Lazurite (2:32 Goodwood) – My Best Bet of the Day
I’m starting off with this five-furlong fillies’ novice race. It’s not usually the type of event I like to bet on, but the odds forecast caught my eye and I’m just hoping it proves to be even halfway accurate.
9/4 is the tissue price about Lazurite, the daughter of Blue Point who went mightily close on debut in a decent novice race at Newmarket. That experience will have done her the world of good, and there’s no reason to think it was any kind of fluke.
Natural improvement, or even a recreation of that performance, would surely make her too hot for the likes of Magic Effort and Pershaada to handle. She did put up her solid numbers on faster ground than she’ll encounter here, but underfoot conditions at Goodwood are safe and reasonable, rather than actually slow, so I have few worries.
Why I’m Backing Lazurite:
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Made an impressive debut at Newmarket
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Very speed, by top-class sire Blue Point
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Carries no penalty and should be too good
Sky Majesty (2:55 Haydock) – Next Best Bet
Skipping up to Haydock now where the ground is on the softer side. We’re short on Group 1’s just now, waiting as we are for the Derby and Royal Ascot, but this is a quality Listed event for the speedy fillies, the Cecil Frail Stakes.
Having taken in all the form, rates of progression, ratings and the like, I do feel that this race realistically comes down to the two big dogs in the market – Rosy Affair and Sky Majesty.
George Boughey’s Rosy Affair finished three and a half lengths ahead of Sky Majesty (William Haggas) when the pair met at Newmarket over Guineas weekend. She attempted to make all that day and nearly did so, and that was the right tactic at HQ across the opening two meetings of the season.
For her part, Sky Majesty really seems to need her first run, and on the Rowley Mile, she actually did best of the runners attempting to come from the back of the pack. She ran really well on rain-softened ground in Group company over at Naas last season, and with a run under her belt, she can now kick on.
You can back Sky Majesty with BetGoodwin, who offer free bets for new customers.
Why I’m Backing Sky Majesty:
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Proven Group performer who needed her first run
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Rated the same as Rosy Affair – a year younger and four fewer runs
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Can handle some cut in the ground
Fashion’s Fancy (1:45 Haydock) – Value Bet
Before the Cecil Frail at Haydock is this fillies’ novice stakes over a mile and a quarter. Whatever happens to my selection here, this will prove to be an important race for those studying form later in the campaign.
There will be interest in Ladykirk (Jane Chapple-Hyam) and Nochebeuna (Ralph Beckett) for sure, but for me, this comes down to the Godolphin pair of Tribal Queen and Fashion’s Fancy, both under the care of Charlie Appleby.
My shout was very green from the start and got too far back on her debut at Kempton in early April. She was asked for a big effort and got right onto the heels of the classy winner before crying enough with 300 yards to go. She’s been given plenty of time, and can put up a much-improved performance.
Another clue here – the white cap worn by Billy Loughnane doesn’t necessarily mean he’s on Godolphin’s second choice, as is often thought. Billy is very much part of the team now and would be their number one rider here, not Tribal Queen’s jockey Oisin Murphy, as evidenced by the fact that he rides Distant Storm in the Irish Guineas this weekend in the absence of the suspended William Buick.
There’s been a lot of talk about Tribal Queen’s pedigree this week, and it’s impressive, but Fashion’s Fancy isn’t exactly straight out of Shameless herself. She’s out of a half-sister to the stable’s evergreen Group 1 performer Rebel’s Romance, and should put up a good show at a potentially nice price (4/1 forecast).
Why I’m Backing Fashion’s Fancy:
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Represents top connections and is race fit
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Very well bred and has good debut form
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Is the value shout ahead of her stablemate
Ice Max (4:17 Goodwood) – Value Bet
Along with the Cecil Frail, Goodwood’s Festival Stakes is one of a pair of Listed events run on Friday. If running to their absolute best, then Haatem (Richard Hannon) and Enfjaar (Roger Varian) would of course be tough to beat, but I reckon they will be passed by one or both of Karl Burke’s runners for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid.
Boiling Point is the key horse here. He looks very competitive in this race, but yet he is the clear second choice of the Burke team, with Ice Max therefore looking like great value. His pattern so far is that he tends to improve significantly from his first run of the season, so there’s plenty to like and plenty to take out of his good third behind Lambourn at Chester.
Why I’m Backing Ice Max:
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Likely to improve markedly after his Chester run
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Has strong form at this level and is getting better
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First choice for jockey Sam James and trainer Karl Burke
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