Pearly King can shine at Goodwood

Many had their fingers burnt at Royal Ascot when Pearly King came home over eight lengths adrift of Linas Selection in the competitive King George V Stakes, as Sir Michael Stoute's charge was a warm order, and many punters' idea of a banker. However, Pearly King wasn't beaten through lack of ability, but through lack of stamina over the mile and a half trip. After ranging up with every chance at the two furlong pole, the son of Kingmambo started to tread water and was eased by his jockey that day, Kieren Fallon. He had scored twice over ten furlongs previously and, dropping back to that trip at Glorious Goodwood on Thursday, Sir Michael Stoute's charge can land the valuable Ladbrokes.com Stakes, for which he is a 4/1 chance with the sponsors at the time of writing. Pearly King is a horse I like an awful lot, and he's the type that is difficult for the handicapper to nail, because he's a lazy sort, who only just does enough in his races, therefore you never know quite how much he's got left in the tank. Following a ready victory in a Yarmouth maiden in April, the selection went on to score on fast ground on his handicap debut at Redcar, before running on well to land a competitive heat on soft going at Newbury where he came form off the pace to beat useful yardstick Salute The General by half-a-length, but winning with more in hand than the bare margin of victory. That race probably wasn't as good as it looked at the time, but there can be no doubting Pearly King's superiority, despite probably not being ideally suited by the cut in the ground and off a mark just 7lb higher than for that win, I expect him to win this contest with authority. Middleham trainer Mark Johnston is always to be feared at this meeting, and he has sent out the winner of this twice in the last decade. If recent Ascot winner Road To Love turns out again, he will prove hard to peg back, as he is a relentless galloper and possess plenty of stamina. The son of Fruits Of Love made every post a winning one at the Berkshire track on Sunday, setting a searching pace and readily coming clear in the straight to beat stablemate London Express by seven lengths. Under a penalty, he looks sure to go close, but he beat mainly exposed, unpredictable sorts that day, and this will be much tougher. Walter Swinburn has his string in rude health and the progressive Stotsfold cannot be dismissed. He turned over a Godolphin hotpot on the all-weather at Lingfield at the end of June before coming with a well-timed run under Alan Munro to beat Shaydreambeliever by a length ay Chester. This is a huge step up in class for Stotsfold, but he has only been raised 3lb for that last-time-out win and chances are he'll be seen to even better effect now pitched into a race where a strong end-to-end gallop is certain to ensue. Both he and Acrobatic are on the upgrade and very much respected. The latter slammed Obrigado, who wasn't given the most tactically astute ride by Darryll Holland, it has to be said, by five lengths on the all-weather at Kempton on July 12, and it's significant that Roger Charlton has put him aside in anticipation of this race, rather than trying to find a race quickly before he is reassessed. As expected, the handicapper did hit him quite hard by raising him 10lb. However, despite the runner-up being give an ill-judged ride, Acrobatic essentially demolished the field and there is every reason to suspect that there is more to come. On the downside, it has to be taken on trust that he will translate that form to turf, and this race will be run at a much stronger pace, so he does have questions to answer. The Aidan O'Brien-trained Hitchcock and Godolphin's Familiar Territory are both worthy of consideration, although the latter will do well to win such a strong race following an absence of 286 days, while Hitchcock wasn't overly impressive when landing the odds on his handicap bow at Naas and will need to pull out a good deal more to take this off a 7lb higher mark. Verdict - 1pt Pearly King @ 4/1 (Ladbrokes)