Bated Breath's connections eyeing July Cup

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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