ITV Racing's Ed Chamberlin won't be quite so lonely as Glorious Goodwood welcomes 5,000 crowd

And despite the difficulties he and his team have faced, he is looking forward to heading to the Qatar Goodwood Festival next week – and watching what he feels could be the race of the season.

Chamberlin is excited by news the final day of Glorious Goodwood has been selected for a pilot scheme re-introducing crowds to racecourses. They will be allowed to welcome 5,000 racecourse members and guests and Chamberlin is certain Goodwood is a great place torun this ‘test’ – and has every confidence they’ll do a fantastic job.

“It’s excellent – its another step towards the normality we crave,” he said. “Of the events chosen to trial it, Goodwood couldn’t be better.

“So long as we pray for good weather – there couldn’t be a better place for it.

“It’s another step forward and you just know Goodwood and the authorities will do a fantastic job because the job they’ve done to date – in very difficult times – has been nothing short of sensational.”

What is Chamberlin most looking forward to at Goodwood this year?

Unsurprisingly, Cham-berlin did not have to think before mentioning the Sussex Stakes, to be run on Wednesday, the festival’s day two. “In The Sussex Stakes, I think we’ve got the race of the season. It’s an absolute humdinger of a race and then you get the Guineas winner Kameko thrown into the mix.

“You’ve got the face-off you always want, between the two Guineas winners – Siskin; Irish Guineas winner, against Kameko. Then you’ve got quality everywhere, like the Queen Anne winner.”

Chamberlin has a strong fancy in the race in the form of Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum-owned and Marcus Tregoning-trained Mohaather.

“I think the horse they’ve all got to beat is Mohaather,” said Chamberlin. “He was stunningly good in the Summer Mile at Ascot recently – that was a brilliant performance.

“It would be a great story because Marcus Tregoning, as a trainer, scaled the heights of the sport – training a Derby winner and flying high, training for Sheikh Hamdan – but he’s also seen the other end of the scale. To have him back on the stage – because he’s one of life’s good guys – is potentially the best story of the lot.”

One horse set to miss the race, having failed to build on his two-year-old promise stepped up to a mile this season, is Pinatubo. He instead dropped back to seven furlongs to continue his success in the Qatar Prix Jean Prat at Deauville.

Chamberlin said: “It isn’t a total surprise to see him drop back in trip. It’s a shame, but take nothing away from the cast we have got. We could have had Pinatubo and Palace Pier, but I’m very happy with what we have. I’d imagine people will be licking their lips over the thought of the line-up so long as they all stand their ground.”

Stradivarius (in Tuesday’s Goodwood Cup) and Battaash (Friday’s King George) look set to attempt fourth straight wins in their Glorious races – another highlight in Chamberlin’s books.

“They’ve been so good to us at ITV. You’re reliant on horses which resonate with people at home and we’ve been very lucky to have those.

“Enable and Tiger Roll have led the way, but Battaash and Stradivarius haven’t been far behind.

“They’re box office per-formers on their day – I think the biggest performance of the season was Stradivarius in the [Ascot] Gold Cup. It was a proper ‘wow-factor’ performance.

“Battaash finally getting it right in The King’s Stand wasn’t far behind.

“We know how much Battaash loves Goodwood – and we know how much the audience at home love the ‘batmobile’ so just to have them there is fantastic.

“Hopefully they can produce performances like they did at Royal Ascot and we can enjoy them once again.

“They are, once again, the standout performers at Glorious Goodwood.”