International field take aim at Diamond Jubilee Stakes

Undrafted seeks to win the race for the second year in a row. Picture: Racingfotos.com

The final Group 1 race of the meeting, a £600,000 six-furlong contest that forms part of the QIPCO British Champions Series, will be over in 75 seconds but a field of ten has drawn horses trained in Australia, America, Hong Kong, France and, of course, England.

Australian-trained speedsters have won the prize twice before, through Choisir in 2003 and Black Caviar in 2012, and many felt Brazen Beau was unlucky not to give them a third triumph 12 months ago.

Holler, trained in Sydney by John O’Shea, will try and avenge that reverse. A Group 1 winner at Randwick in March, he will be ridden by New Zealand-born James McDonald.
Owned by Godolphin, Holler has been lodging at the stable of Charlie Appleby in Newmarket since June 2 and has taken the travelling and new surroundings in his stride.

“There’s been no dramas and he put his weight straight back on,” said O’Shea, who trains 250 horses and has another 150 yearlings on the way. “The horse is fine, it’s just the trainer who has had to try and get his head around the new environment”. It’s very difficult the first week knowing where to work them, and how to work them. Ideally we didn’t want to running up steep inclines with horses that are not used to it. It has been a learning experience for the lot of us.”

Holler is likely to be among the first horses called by the race commentator once the gates fly open on Saturday.“He’s on the speed, he’s a leader,” O’Shea, 46, said. “He’s big, tough, hard-looking horse and he likes to gallop. He’s got great gate speed and he’ll be right up on the bunny. He’s a multiple weight-for-age performer in Australia at sprinting and that, by definition, means if he can bring his A-game he will be competitive. He’s rated 120, Brazen Beau was 123 – he’s probably just a tier below”

“We’ve got to draw the right barrier, which we haven’t done very well with all year. Where that is I don’t know – it’s just getting a barrier that gets you the right part of the ground.”

O’Shea added: “He’s from a family that gets better with age. If he’s effective, no doubt we would love to bring him back again next year. He’s a sound conveyance and hasn’t been overtaxed.”

Gold-Fun, trained in Hong Kong by Richard Gibson, will be the mount of Christophe Soumillon, based in France but born in Belgium. Gold-Fun missed out on running at the meeting last year after having keyhole surgery to remove ankle chips but is tremendously consistent and has won his connections £3.7m in prize money.

Undrafted, trained in America by Royal Ascot regular Wesley Ward, took the spoils last year under Frankie Dettori and seeks to become only the seventh horse to have won the race more than once – and the first since it was elevated to Group 1 status in 2002.

He will be ridden by Puerto Rico-born John Velazquez as Italian maestro Dettori, who has enjoyed three winners on the first two days of the meeting, will instead be on Magical Memory for Charlie Hills.

Magical Memory was progressive last term and has improved again this campaign, winning the Connaught Access Flooring Abernant Stakes at Newmarket, when he had Mattmu behind in third, and Duke Of Clipper Logistics Stakes at York at the chief expense of Suedois, with Twilight Son further behind.

Twilight Son was not at his best in the York race, when burdened with a penalty, but his efforts last season, which included victory in the Betfred Sprint Cup and second place to Muhaarar in the QIPCO British Champions Sprint at Ascot, put him firmly in the equation.

On the latter occasion he had The Tin Man, striking winner of a Listed race on his comeback at Windsor last month, behind in fourth.

Signs Of Blessing travels over from France, but Jungle Cat, fourth in the King’s Stand Stakes on Tuesday, has been announced a non-runner.