Sean Levey Glorious Goodwood Day Two rides blog: 'He's in a really good place'

Sean Levey talks in detail about Rosallion, his chances in the Sussex Stakes, coming back after missing out on the Queen Anne and more in his latest Glorious Goodwood rides blog ahead of day two.

• Rosallion - Goodwood - 15:05 race odds

• Our Golden One - Goodwood - 15:45 race odds

• Lebron Power - Goodwood - 16:20 race odds

• Blue Prince - Goodwood - 16:55 race odds

To be honest, in terms of getting yourself ready for a week like this, it's a lot more simple than you might think. As far as preparation goes, with the horses, all of that has been done within the last week or two - so that's all been put away and we're very happy with where we're at going into the week. 

Goodwood Festival is one I've always enjoyed riding at, and we'll take each race as it comes. It's a course that you always need a bit of luck at, but that makes the whole week that little bit more challenging - and exciting - than your usual straight-forward tracks that you're used to.

In terms of my own preparation, in the morning it's about getting on the work bike, nice and early, losing a bit of weight. Goodwood is only an hour-and-a-half away for me, so it's an easy enough drive. It's good being so close to home because I'll be back well in time before my son goes to bed, so I'll let him terrorise me for a bit before we put him to bed... I'll probably avoid bedtime duties for the week; he goes to sleep better for my wife than he does for me... at least that's what I keep saying!

But the fact the day finishes quite early means I'm able to get back home at a reasonable time, so I can sit down and have dinner with the family, maybe watch a bit of TV before I go to sleep. And then I'm up bright and early, I'll go to the yard which is just up the road, I'll ride a couple of lots, come back and repeat the whole process for the rest of the week.

The Sussex Stakes is one of the biggest races of the week, and probably the highlight of the festival, really. Obviously, this is the first time the four-year-olds will have clashed with the three-year-olds, which always makes it a very interesting race. 

Look, there's no doubt Field Of Gold is going to be very difficult to beat, based on what we've seen of him so far. He's an exceptional horse, but I think we have the right attribute to take him on.

We missed our chance of running at Goodwood last year, but we always thought he had a massive chance of winning it. He's a four-year-old this year which means he has to give away weight, but he's improved at every run, in my opinion, from the Lockinge to just being denied at Ascot in the Queen Anne. He's improved, as good horses do, and I know he's in a really good place coming into this.

To be fair, I think we were very unlucky to be denied in the Queen Anne by what was literally the flare of a nostril. Look, we lacked a bit of luck on that day, but in hindsight - and looking at it optimistically - our first worries were around the two that beat him in the Lockinge, and he beat them by a long way. He ran into a specialist in Docklands, who was very good on the day. But Goodwood is a different story altogether; Rosallion is a good horse who has shown his versatility across a number of racetracks. Docklands can't say the same. Now, of biggest contender is Field Of Gold, who is a very strong three-year-old and one who we would have probably been threatened by if he was around last year. Both of them deserve to take their chance here, and that's what racing is all about.

Yes, we're still waiting for Rosallion's first win since his return, but I don't think it adds any pressure; ultimately, what will be will be, right? This is what makes racing so intriguing. You know, at the end of the day, it's the horses who do all of the running. Once you get everything right in your preparation, it's then up to the horses to show how good they are. With horses like Rosallion, who always wear their hearts on their sleeves, there's nothing really that can be done to add any pressure to you - he's either good enough on the day or he isn't.

For me, at least, that's what takes away a lot of the pressure. You know, I find riding in those Group 1s is a lot more straight-forward than riding in the handicaps, where you're held to an awful lot of luck. I'd probably feel a lot more pressure riding a favourite in a handicap, than I would riding a fancied horse in a big race.

It'll be quite interesting to see what happens tactically here; it looks as though there are going to be two pacemakers: one for the Coolmore team and one for the Juddmonte team, and then we know the rest of the candidates well. Look, it'll be a very interesting race, but all I can say is that everything looks spot on for Rosallion.

Our Golden One is a lovely filly. I actually sat on her in a listed race at Goodwood and I really liked her. She did feel to me as though she'd like a little bit of a cut in the ground. There are showers about, but at the moment - with the weather we're having - it doesn't look as if the going is going to change by much.

But, that being said, she's shown really good form throughout her runs, including last time out at Chester. You know, these handicaps are difficult at the best of times, but once you have a horse who has remained competitive off her mark, then she's always going to have every chance.

I'm really happy with Lebron Power and how she's performed for us in the last couple of months. I thought she was quite impressive in grabbing the bull by the horns and made the running in Windsor on her first time out, winning comfortably and decisively there. She's a filly by Starman - who has doing really well for a seasoned sire - and we went to Sandown with her last month for what was a really competitive race in which I felt she ran really well, and you could argue she was a little bit unlucky not to have the racing room she needed at a crucial part of the race... she ran on to finish fourth there.

She's a fast filly and she's drawn well here; being high in Goodwood is normally where you want to be. She's straight-forward, and I'd imagine the track will definitely suit her.

Blue Prince is actually a very consistent horse - if you take away his last run; he's always in the first three. He did win at Goodwood this time last year and - especially over seven furlongs - having history here can definitely be a massive help. I rode him at Southwell a few starts ago, and we ran a massive race. 

He's by a stallion who I really like in Blue Point, and these horses normally have a lot of speed - even going up in trips, they normally reserve quite a bit of speed and a good turn of foot, which is brilliant; it's exactly what you want around Goodwood, to get you out of those tricky situations the handicaps throw at you.

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