2021 Goodwood Cup Tips - Can Stradivarius complete the five timer?

The opening day of festivities at Glorious Goodwood is headlined by the Goodwood Cup. This Group One has been won by many of the sport's finest stayers during his illustrious history, and Stradivarius will attempt to become the first five-time winners when he returns to Sussex on Tuesday.

We've taken a look through the latest odds and picked out our best bets.

For the first time, Stradivarius travels to Goodwood on the back of a defeat at Royal Ascot. Frankie Dettori will regret his decision to sit so far adrift of the pace-setting Subjectivist, as the pair simply couldn't make up enough ground down the home straight, crossing the line a well-beaten fourth.

Spanish Mission ran a cracker to finish one place ahead of Stradivarius in the Ascot Gold Cup, and he travels to Goodwood with a live chance. Emperor Of The Sun recovered well after a dreadful start to finish just behind Stradivarius in fifth. 

Last year's Goodwood Cup third, Santiago, and stablemates Serpentine and Amhran Na Bhfiann finished seventh, eighth and eleventh in the Ascot Gold Cup respectively. While Santiago and Serpentine haven't run since, Amhran Na Bhfiann travels to Goodwood on the back of a superb seven-length victory in the Curragh Cup.

Trueshan was withdrawn from Ascot when it became clear the ground would be fast. Instead, Alan King's Long Distance Cup winner carried top-weight into the Northumberland Plate, and stayed on to place a creditable sixth.

Subjectivist's season-ending injury and the poor form of last year's Goodwood Cup runner-up Nayef Road has seen Mark Johnston supplement Sir Ron Priestley into this two-miler. Johnson's five-year-old returned from a year out with a Listed win over 14 furlongs, and has since landed the Jockey Club Stakes and the Princess Of Wales's Stakes over a mile-and-a-half.

Nayef Road will make his second-straight appearance in the Goodwood Cup. Ismail Mohammed's Away He Goes and Jamie Osbourne's Mekong round off the Glorious Goodwood betting.

In recent days, Stradivarius has drifted from odds-on out to 5/4 and even 11/8 with most firms. Although Dettori clearly got the tactics wrong at Ascot, Gosden's seven-year-old couldn't find the extra gear that's helped him dominate the staying ranks for almost six years. The rain-softened ground will suit others more than the favourite, and I don't think being drawn in stall one will aid his cause. I don't mind taking the market leader on.

Alan King will have been delighted when the rain came over the weekend, softening the current going to soft. Trueshan loves to get his toe into the ground, and the prospect of further rain to come will bolster his chances.

While Trueshan does hold appeal at his current price, I'd much rather take an each-way punt on EMPEROR OF THE SUN for Donnacha O'Brien, who saddled his first Group One winner at this meeting 12 months ago.

Emperor Of The Sun was fancied by some shrewd experts to run well at Royal Ascot, but blew his chances away at the start and still sat at the rear of the pack as Subjectivist turned for home. To his credit, Gavin Ryan's mount kept going right through the line to finish a place behind Stradivarius in fifth.

As a three-year-old, Emperor Of The Sun finished a close second to Ascot Gold Cup runner-up Princess Zoe at the Galway Festival, and placed second behind last year's St Leger winner, Galileo Chrome in the Yeats Stakes. Donnacha's stayer kicked off this season with a fine third in the Vintage Crop Stakes, before blitzing two-time Irish St Leger winner, Search For A Song in the Saval Beg at Leopardstown.

Given he went off as a 16/1 shot in the Ascot Gold Cup - a deeper race than this - and finished as well as he could do considering his track position, then there's no way Emperor Of The Sun should be sitting as far down the market as he does.