Crowds continue to attend Glorious Goodwood
04 Aug 2012 | Racenews Newslink The attendance at Glorious Goodwood on Friday, day four of the meeting, was 21,467.
This compares with a figure of 21,919 on the same day in 2011, and one of 20,920 in 2010.
Goodwood managing director Adam Waterworth said: "We have enjoyed four days of fabulous racing, and today's action was seriously competitive, as witnessed by two dead-heats.
"The weather has been absolutely lovely and the crowd seemed very happy, so now we look forward to tomorrow's finale and two of the week's highlights, the Blue Square Bet Stewards' Cup and the Group One Markel Insurance Nassau Stakes."
Another wonderful day's racing took place at Goodwood on ground clerk of course Seamus Buckley described as 'perfect'. Similar ground can be expected tomorrow when some of Europe's leading fillies take to the West Sussex track in the Group One Markel Insurance Nassau Stakes.
Buckley said: "I am delighted with how the day went. There were some fantastic races - two dead-heats - and it really goes to show that the horses are letting themselves down to race on what I would call perfect Flat racing ground.
"The course has certainly dried out but if we get a couple of millimetres overnight, we will be back on lovely ground. There is some rain coming into the area in the early hours of tomorrow morning - only a couple or three millimetres - and there is a chance of a shower about 11 or 12 o'clock tomorrow morning.
"We are taking down the rail on top bend to give two furlongs of fresh ground to the fillies in the Markel Insurance Nassau Stakes."
In other news Graham Gibbons and Jamie Spencer were both handed suspensions by the Goodwood stewards after in-running incidents during the Betfred Mile, the first after the two-furlong marker and the second on the run to the line.
Spencer has been banned for four days (Friday, August 17 - Monday, August 20) for careless riding. It was judged that after the two-furlong marker he had manoeuvred left on Field Of Dream, creating a gap, and in the process interfered with Gibbons-ridden Swiftly Done, who in turn interfered with Captain Bertie, ridden by Michael Hills.
Gibbons has been banned for five days (Friday, August 17 - Tuesday, August 21) for improper riding. It was judged that on the run to the line his mount had interfered with Field Of Dream and that he had intentionally struck Spencer with his whip.
Swiftly Done finished seventh, Field Of Dream 11th and Captain Bertie 13th.
Gibbons was found in breach of Rule (B)54.2 and Spencer of Rule (B)54.1.