If the thought of the fastest miler in Europe, his all-conquering trainer Aidan O'Brien, plenty of brilliant races and a track nestled in the most picturesque part of England whets the appetite, then there is only one place to be this week and that is Glorious Goodwood.

The Panama hat-wearing set will decamp on the Earl of March's magnificent Goodwood estate this week to watch not only some of the best thoroughbreds in training, but enjoy the unique attractions of a beautiful racecourse.

O'Brien is carrying all before him this season and has his eyes firmly set on winning the two Group 1 races - the Sussex and Nassau Stakes.

The Sussex Stakes looks a formality for his brilliant miler Henrythenavigator, who is bidding to win a fourth successive Group 1 contest. Success in this event would take O'Brien's incredible tally this term to 16 at this level, which would leave him nine short of the record for most Group 1 wins in a season

Good news within racing isn't solely the domain of the Ballydoyle behemoth as the popularity of Glorious Goodwood also appears to be immune to the global credit crunch.

The event may not be the best five days racing in the calendar, that mantle belongs to Royal Ascot, but none can compare when it comes to its unique location and atmosphere.

Unlike other great sporting events the standards upheld by Goodwood officialdom have not been allowed to wane and unless freakishly hot temperatures are recorded, gentlemen will not be permitted to remove their blazers or jackets in the members' enclosure.

That the course remains in a glorious time-warp is part of the attraction of this Pimm's-drinking festival.

Jockey Johnny Murtagh is the man of the moment with 13 wins at the top level this season and he is going to have legions of followers on the Sussex Downs this week, but the bookmakers believe it is far from a forgone conclusion that he will end the meeting as top rider.

Ryan Moore has a terrific book of rides and the layers are having difficulty in separating the pair.

Murtagh will be an incredibly busy jockey over the five days as William Hill also quote him as a 12-1 shot to be leading jockey at the seven-day Galway Festival which kicks off tonight.

But despite all of the excitement generated by this unique racing showpiece there are dark clouds looming. Racing is set to make all the wrong headlines again if, as expected, Wednesday night's Panorama programme - the second to investigate the sport - has evidence of any wrongdoing.

No one outside the Panorama team knows exactly what the programme will reveal but, given that it has been titled Racing's Dirty Secrets, the second expose on the sport of kings in six years looks certain to be damaging.

British Horseracing Authority chief executive Nic Coward is as apprehensive as anyone in racing as to what Panorama will bring to light but insists the BHA have gone out of their way to assist the programme's producers.

He said: "I don't know what they're going to try to do or say, but I'm assuming they will seek to highlight corruption in and around racing. We have been completely open with them."

As racing looks set to endure another roller-coaster week let's hope that Goodwood is as glorious as ever and the top quality horses, jockeys and trainers on show help to keep the potentially bad headlines off the sports pages.