Another July Cup cracker is on the cards
The Darley July Cup often helps determine who will end the year as champion sprinter and Saturday’s renewal at Newmarket is unlikely to be any different.
Naval Crown and Perfect Power, Group 1 winners at Royal Ascot last month, will meet for the first time, while challengers from Australia, Ireland and Japan are also on course for a six-furlong showpiece that was first run in 1848 and forms part of the QIPCO British Champions Series.
It takes just 70 seconds for the race to be run and those with designs on glory cannot afford to miss a beat, plus a degree of courage for the July Course’s uphill finish. A bit of good fortune can also come in handy, although champions generally find a way of overcoming adversity, and the race’s roll of honour is decorated with greats.
A roll of honour decorated with greats
Ormonde signed off his unblemished 16-race career with victory in the 1887 running, having won the 2000 Guineas, Derby, St Leger and Champion Stakes the previous year. Horses are not campaigned in such daring fashion these days, but it is not uncommon for winners to have earlier been campaigned over further. For instance, a century later, Ajdal triumphed after taking part in the Derby over twice as far the previous month.
Diadem (1919-20), Tetratema (1921), Tiffin (1929), Abernant (1949-50), Moorestyle (1980), Agnes World, Oasis Dream (2003), Starspangledbanner (2010), Dream Ahead and Muhaarar have been among the race’s most celebrated victors, for a variety of reasons.
Agnes World was the first Japanese-trained Group 1 winner in Britain when triumphing under the legendary Yutake Take in 2000. And in 2011, Hayley Turner became the first female jockey to win a Group 1 race outright when brilliantly weaving her way home on Dream Ahead.
Four years after that memorable afternoon, Muhaarar touched off Tropics on his way to scooping four consecutive Group 1 races and being crowned champion sprinter. He would cap his career with victory at Ascot on QIPCO British Champions Day.
Muhaarar had won the inaugural running of the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot the previous month and that race, exclusively for three-year-olds, has quickly become a pivotal part of the puzzle. Harry Angel (2017) and Ten Sovereigns (2019) also ran it en route to July Cup glory, while Quiet Reflection (2016), Fleet Review (2018), Advertise (2019), Golden Horde (2020) and Dragon Symbol (2021) won or took part before being placed at Newmarket.
Will the Commonwealth Cup again hold the key to Saturday’s Darley July Cup at Newmarket, or will one of the older runners prevail?
That augurs well for Perfect Power, who landed the latest Commonwealth Cup, plus Flaming Rib and Cadamosto, who finished second and fourth.
Standing in the way of the younger generation will be the first three home in last month’s Platinum Jubilee Stakes – Naval Crown, Creative Force and Artorius. The last-named will seek to become the first Australian-trained horse to land the race, although Starspangledbanner, one of the record-equalling five winners for Aidan O’Brien, was a champion sprinter in Australia before moving to Ballydoyle.
Group 1 winners Alcohol Free and Emaraaty Ana will add more depth, and then there is King Hermes, an intriguing contender from Japan. Another brief but captivating blockbuster is on the cards.
