The Group 1, £400,000 July Cup, which takes place at Newmarket on July 14,
has 28 horses going forward following the June 26 scratchings deadline. Europe’s
premier sprint, which takes place over six furlongs, was won last year in
tremendous fashion by Dream Ahead, who quickened brilliantly under Hayley Turner
to give the rider her first Group 1 success.
Bated Breath, who finished a half-length second to Dream Ahead in the 2011
July Cup, made an impressive seasonal reappearance when shaving nearly a second
off the course record for five furlongs at Haydock in the Group 2 Temple Stakes
in May, before being narrowly denied by Hong Kong raider Little Bridge (Faltaat)
in the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes over the same distance at Royal Ascot on June
19.
“We are looking at the Darley July Cup with Bated Breath,” said trainer Roger
Charlton, based at Beckhampton in Wiltshire. “He has come out of his race at
Royal Ascot in good form. He is a very consistent horse and ran right up to his
best in the King’s Stand Stakes on ground that wasn’t ideal. He has run over
five furlongs this year, but I think the step back up to six furlongs will suit
him.”
Krypton Factor improved significantly at the Dubai World Cup Carnival this
season, winning three of his five starts including the six-furlong, Group 1
Dubai Golden Shaheen in March. Fawzi Nass’ stable star failed to shine back on
turf, finishing fifth in Singapore’s Group 1 Krisflyer International Sprint in
May, but ran better when sixth behind Black Caviar in the Group 1 Diamond
Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 23.
“Krypton Factor is an intended runner in the Darley July Cup,” said Oliver St
Lawrence, racing manager to Fawzi Nass. “He is fine after his race at Royal
Ascot, but he would have preferred firmer ground. He ran a creditable race — he
was beaten just over two lengths — and was in the middle of the course where we
think the ground was a bit softer. On grass, he wants the ground firmer than it
was at Ascot. The uphill finish at Newmarket will suit him too, but the ground
is the main thing with him.”
Aidan O’Brien has trained three winners of the July Cup and his six horses
going forward include Group 1-winning milers Excelebration and Power, while
James Fanshawe has left in Diamond Jubilee Stakes fifth Society Rock, who stayed
on well in the Royal Ascot sprint after badly missing the break.
Godolphin has two horses going forward courtesy of Saeed bin Suroor’s Diamond
Jubilee Stakes fourth Soul and exciting Australian import Sepoy, who joined
Mahmood Al Zarooni after winning 10 of his 12 starts “Down Under”.
Robert Collet’s King’s Stand Stakes disappointment Wizz Kid is one of three
French-trained entries and could be joined by compatriots Moonlight Cloud, who
was second in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes, and Christophe Ferland’s top-class
juvenile Dabirsim, who could revert to six furlongs after being beaten twice
over a mile this season.
The Australian mare Ortensia, winner of the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan
in March but a disappointing ninth in the King’s Stand Stakes last week, has
also been left in.
July Cup Day, July 14, is the third and final day of the July Festival at
Newmarket. The first day of the Festival, July 12, is Ladies Day and features
the Group 2, £100,000 Princess of Wales’s Stakes, while July 13 is Abu Dhabi Day
and features the Group 1, £160,000 Group 1 Falmouth Stakes.
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