July Cup at Newmarket

the Group One July Cup over 6 furlongs at 16.35 CET at Newmarket is the third top class sprint in the last month in England, and many of the runners today ran either in the King´s Stand Stakes or the Golden Jubilee at Royal Ascot The Australian hope Star Witness (Danny O´Brien/ Steven Arnold) ran in both of them and was placed both times, which gives him an obvious chance here, especially if the rain stays away and the ground remains on the fast side. Two more that will like fast ground are Delegator (Saeed bin Suroor/ Frankie Dettori) - who was withdrawn at Ascot after it started raining - and the German challenger War Artist (Markus Klug/ Olivier Peslier), who has plenty of smart form at this level. He won Baden-Baden´s Goldene Peitsche in 2009, a race that went a year later to Amico Fritz (Henri-Alex Pantall/ Maxime Guyon). If the ground turns soft, then the 3yo Dream Ahead (David Simcock/ Hayley Turner) could be the one; he looked very smart last season, and although he h ad no chance against Frankel at Ascot, that was over a mile and he has always looked more of a sprinter. However much we would like Hayley to win a Group One (and she would be only the second female jockey to triumph at this level) we do not believe it, especially as her no. 2 draw looks a disadvantage based on yesterdays results. Star Witness is drawn in the middle and Delegator and War Artist on the far, i.e favourable, side and we expect one of these to win but a look at the weather is essential first.

The other group race at Newmarket is the Group Two Superlative Stakes for 2yo´s over 7 furlongs at 15.20. Fort Bastion (Richard Hannon/ Peslier), runner-up at Royal Ascot, and John Lightbody (Mark Johnston/ Silvestre de Sousa) are our two against the field in a tricky race, but even trickier is the 20-runner Bunbury Cup over 7 furlongs at 15.55, always one of the hottest handicaps of the year. King of Jazz (Hannon/ Jimmy Fortune) is a lightly-raced 3yo with plenty of improvement to come; he may well be a blot on the handicap, but this age group find it hard to win in tough company at this time of year. We will look elsewhere and again discard runners with a low draw, including our old friend Docofthebay in 7. We ar left with Manassas (Brian Mehan/ Dettori), drawn 20, and Excellent Guest (George Margarson/ Philip Robinson), drawn 18, first and second in a similar handicap at Royal Ascot, but of course there are plenty of possible winners here.