Twelve set to go to post for top quality Darley July Cup

Shamexpress at his temporary Newmarket base. Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

No less than six individual Group 1 winners – exactly half of the 12-strong line-up – will contest tomorrow’s £500,000 Darley July Cup, the highlight of the three-day Piper Heidsieck July Festival, at Newmarket’s July Course.

The six-furlong speed test, which is both the fourth race in the sprint division of the QIPCO British Champions Series and the seventh leg of the Global Sprint Challenge, has attracted all the principal players from the only two Group 1 sprint races to have been run in Europe so far this season.

Lethal Force, Society Rock and Krypton Factor, the first three from the Diamond Jubilee Stakes, run over this distance at Royal Ascot last month, will cross swords again.

Also reopposing are Sole Power and Shea Shea, the first two across the line in Ascot’s other big sprint, the five-furlong King’s Stand Stakes.

Shea Shea from South Africa and Krypton Factor from Bahrain head a four-pronged intercontinental challenge. However, Shamexpress and Havelock, the other two long distances raiders, should by no means be discounted from what their trainers said today.

Shamexpress finished four and a half lengths behind Sole Power in the King’s Stand but his Australian trainer, Danny O’Brien, said: “His best form in Australia is over six furlongs – that’s the distance at which he won a Group 1 [coincidentally named the Newmarket Handicap] back home two starts ago.

“His performance in the King’s Stand was similar to his run over five behind Black Caviar in the Lightning Stakes prior to the Newmarket. He is just a bit more balanced and hits the line better over six.

“He has galloped on the July Course the last two Tuesdays and we have been buoyed by the way he has gone, he has had no issues at all with the undulating track.

“Mickael Barzalona rode him last time and said afterwards that the horse gave him a really good feel. Mickael will ride on Saturday and we are delighted to have been able to secure the services of a rider of his ability – he is an outstanding young jockey.”

Shamexpress could become the first ever Australian winner of the July Cup and O’Brien added: “To win it would be fantastic.

"Newmarket is the home of racing and it would be one last thing for an Australian-trained horse to achieve, and be lovely to have on my resumé.”

Havelock will be the second American horse to contest the Darley July Cup after Kinsale King in 2010 and his trainer, Darrin Miller, is optimistic that he can show his true colours this time having finished a disappointing eleventh in the Diamond Jubilee.

“I don’t think he ran his race at Ascot,” Miller said.

“He didn’t cool down after the race like he usually does and I think he was a little taken aback by the whole occasion. That form is not a true read of his ability.

“One of the main reasons why we have stayed on for the July Cup is the reaction of Frankie Dettori after he got off him at Ascot. He said that the horse did not get a fair go and that he would like to ride him again at Newmarket.

“Frankie didn’t guarantee a win but he said that he was sure that the horse would improve by a number of lengths.”

Quizzed about the different demands of the July Course, with its downhill run prior to an uphill finish, Miller added: “He worked there last week and, although I have only seen it on video, he finished very strongly, very much on the bridle, and appeared to handle it well.”

First race-time is 2.05pm tomorrow and the Darley July Cup is off at 3.50pm, live on Channel 4. Don’t miss it!