Vodafone Stewards' Cup (Goodwood, Aug. 5th) Race Preview

One man's rubbish can be another man's treasure. And one trainer's nag can be another trainer's money spinner. Desert Commander is a case in point, and he can land the Vodafone Stewards' Cup at Glorious Goodwood on August 5, for which the gelding is a 14/1 chance with bet365. The superbly bred son of Green Desert was beaten in two ordinary maidens before winning an equally ordinary contest at Yarmouth in August 2004 when in the care of Godolphin handler Saeed bin Suroor. However, since switching to Kevin Ryan's Hambleton yard in North Yorkshire, Desert Commander has excelled. On his first run for nearly two years, the four-year-old brushed aside seventeen rivals in a competitive Class 4 handicap at Thirsk on April 21. On his second start for Ryan, the selection failed to fire under very testing conditions at York but he duly bounced back when beating the smart Zidane by two and a half lengths in a highly competitive contest at Ripon, for which he has been raised 8lb by the handicapper. This prestigious handicap will represent by far the stiffest task he has faced in his career to date but Desert Commander has had just six starts thus far so it's unlikely that we have seen the best of him yet. Furthermore, Kevin Ryan has a plethora of talented sprinters in his yard, ranging from handicappers to proven Group 1 performers, so he will have a good idea where he stands with Desert Commander in relation to a number of the his charge's principal rivals in this contest. The James Fanshawe-trained Firenze is the unanimous favourite amongst the bookmakers, generally available at 7/1. She was sent off a well-backed market leader for the Wokingham at Royal Ascot but was outpaced in the closing stages by the classy Baltic King. The sister of the stable's 2004 July Cup winner Frizzante was arguably a shade unlucky not to win owing to the amount of energy she expended when jockey Jamie Spencer elected to go around the houses in order to secure daylight, while Jimmy Fortune sat tight aboard the eventual winner and, luckily, the breaks materialised and Baltic King had much more petrol left to burn off compared to Firenze inside the final furlong. The five-year-old mare is a big danger, along with Dandy Nicholls' Tax Free, who was drawn on the unfavoured far side when soundly beaten in the Group 2 King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot but demonstrated his ability when placed in high quality Group sprint races on his two previous starts during the current campaign. Nicholls has won this ultra-competitive dash twice in the last decade and his horses are always to be respected in the type of event. Tax Free proved his ability to handle the hustle and bustle of big field handicaps when landing a brace of 20-runner, highly competitive handicap at Newmarket and York respectively last season. On the downside, it'll be a big ask for the four-year-old to win this off a mark of 107, a rating 7lb higher than the loftiest winning rating of any other winner of this race in the last decade, the horse in question being Danetime, who won the 1997 renewal of this off a perch of 100. Robin Bastiman's Borderlescott, fourth home in the Wokingham, and the Hughie Morrison-trained duo, Intrepid Jack and Prince Tamino, are the most interesting of the remainder. Intrepid Jack, in particular, because he is a horse that promised to win a big race in the future during last season's campaign and, granted luck in running, he will definitely be on the premises here. Verdict - 1pt each-way Desert Commander @ 14/1 (bet365)