FLOWERDRUM (3.15) is fancied to produce a career best performance by capturing this afternoon's £100,000 William Hill Mile at Glorious Goodwood.

The William Haggas-trained daughter of Mister Baileys has been drawn right in the middle of the pack (11 of22), so she'll need to use her proven tactical speed in order to attain a decent early position.

If jockey Eddie Ahern does manage to get his mount tucked in just behind the leaders, I expect he'll try and give Flowerdrum a quick mid-race breather, prior to the final assault when the whips will be up and cracking in earnest.

Having won a Class C 0-95 event at Salisbury in June, Flowerdrum has been saved specifically for today's valuable contest, and even though the filly is going to need plenty of luck in running, her odds of 16-1 represent decent each-way value in a wide-open affair.

For the opening mile-and-a-half Listed race, I'd like to think we'll get off to a real flyer by backing Alkaadhem (2.05).

Alkaadhem prevailed at the course in the late spring over a ten furlongs, only for trainer Marcus Tregoning to inexplicably switch his colt back to one-mile at Royal Ascot. He then went to Sandown and got stuck in the mud, an effort that can be safely ignored on totally unsuitable ground.

The real intrigue about this horse from a betting point of view is that he's totally unexposed having never tried this afternoon's trip, nor has he been beaten on either of his two visits to the track.

Seeing as Alkaadhem is by the sprinter Green Desert, there's not too much encouragement to be gleaned via the male lineage, however the fact he's out of Sadler's Wells mare yields a precious stamina injection from arguably the most important side of the family.

High numbers traditionally do well in big-field sprint races fuelling even more reason to support Royal Challenge (4.25), emerging from stall 21 in the five-furlong Turf Club Rated Stakes.

After a wretched first six months of the year, Gerard Butler's stable is now starting to roll and Royal Challenge has been one of the leaders of the pack winning his last two races in great style.

Nearer to home at Thirsk, Thornaby Green (3.00), a 6-1 winning nap for this column over six furlongs at Hamilton a fortnight ago, now tries a furlong further for the first time.

Thornaby's Green's run style certainly suggests the new distance will be in his favour, a hint his shrewd handler, David Barron, is sure to have taken into account when entering the progressive three-year-old for the Skelton Castle Handicap.

In the light of Let It Be's (4.45) facile success at Catterick, Mary Reveley's Lingdale-based filly is likely to be sent off a hot favourite for the Crayke Fillies' Handicap.

Let It Be is a big rangy individual with the sort of physique well suited to tackling middle-distances.

In time she'll probably stay at least two miles, nevertheless while in her current mood it's impossible to oppose her with only a featherweight to carry and the experienced Chis Catlin doing the steering.