Tag: G1 July Cup

The Jockey Club And 1/ST Racing Partner To Enhance International Turf Races

The Jockey Club and 1/ST Racing have partnered to increase international participation in several of their respective turf races, the two companies announced on Thursday.

The aim of the partnership is to create links between historic races in the UK and high-profile U.S. turf races over two different distances. The winner of the May 4 $200,000 GII Charles Whittingham S. at Santa Anita will gain an automatic berth and travel incentive to run in the £750,000 G1 Coral-Eclipse over the same 10-furlong distance at Sandown Park on July 6. Whichever horse wins the Eclipse, will receive an automatic entry and a travel incentive to run in the $750,000 GII California Crown John Henry Turf at Santa Anita on Sept. 28.

Turf Sprinters are also catered to in the new partnership, with the May 18 $100,000 Listed Jim McKay S. at Pimlico over five furlongs receiving a berth and travel money in the £600,000 G1 My Pension Expert July Cup over six furlongs at Newmarket on July 6. The July Cup winner will receive an automatic entry in the $750,000 GII California Crown Eddie D Turf Sprint over 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita, the same day as the John Henry Turf.

Aidan Butler, President of 1/ST, said, “A special thank you to our friends at The Jockey Club on launching this innovative partnership. We look forward to welcoming in competitors to the inaugural California Crown at Santa Anita Park this autumn.

“This partnership with The Jockey Club is part of our wider global strategy for improving international interest and top-class participation in the world's biggest races–as evidenced by a similar alliance we have with Royal Ascot, via our Royal Palm juvenile series at Gulfstream Park, which delivered Crimson Advocate (Nyquist), the winner of the prestigious [G2] Queen Mary S., in its inaugural year.”

Matt Woolston, The Jockey Club's assistant racing and international director, added, “We are delighted to announce this great new initiative today and I would like to thank everyone at 1/ST for helping to make it happen.

“By pairing two of the UK's most famous and prestigious Group 1 contests in the summer with a quartet of valuable North American turf contests in the spring and autumn, we feel we have the perfect race schedule for transatlantic runners.

“In addition, British and other European trainers now have the chance of an incentivised trip to North America in the autumn for races at Santa Anita's exciting new California Crown meeting.

“We feel we have highlighted a race schedule that incentivises runners to travel across the Atlantic.”

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Charm Spirit’s Shaquille Brilliant In The July Cup

There have been many super-sprinters that have won Newmarket's G1 July Cup, but probably none that have managed to do as much wrong as Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}-Magic {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) as he placed himself among the very best in Saturday's renewal. Up in the air as the stalls opened and slowly away again as he had been in Royal Ascot's G1 Commonwealth Cup, Julie Camacho and Steve Brown's freakishly-talented 3-year-old was quickly telling Rossa Ryan that he wanted to assume top dog status. Lesser mortals would have had little left for the July Course's steep climb to the line having blown by the turbo-charged Art Power (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) at halfway, but Martin Hughes's homebred occupies different territory to most.

Threatening at the business end was Kinross (GB) (Kingman {GB}), who had enjoyed a far more favourable trip and as a G1 Prix de la Foret winner had the stamina to make Shaquille pay for his early exertions, but the 5-2 joint-favourite simply dispelled that challenge for his closing act. At the line, he had 1 1/2 lengths to spare over the 28-1 outsider Run To Freedom (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}), another Henry Candy special who grabbed the silver medal from Kinross late on by a short head.

“He's some horse to do that and it was just an incredible performance taking on the older horses,” Ryan said. “I tried to settle him in behind, but he wasn't having it. I was out of control really and I had to make a move in the middle part of the race–I had no option. Nine times out ten that would be a disaster, but he has just got a lot of ability and that is the long and the short of it. I just let him blow out and grab his wind and he just went away. Two out, he kicked and he stayed going. I saw someone out of the corner of my eye and he kicked again for me at the half-furlong pole and picked up all the way to the line. He's something else.”

 

Shaquille, whose light was hidden under a bushel until his barnstorming all-the-way success in Newbury's Listed Carnarvon S. in May, has fast become the sprinting category's standard-setter and his impressive sectionals at Royal Ascot suggested he could be ultra-slick on this fast track. His scintillating 10.70 and 10.64 second and third-furlong splits took him past Art Power, who has made his trade by dominating the early parts of most of his races, as the other joint-favourite Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) backed out quickly. Unrelenting thereafter with splits of 11.03 and 11.33, the damage was done and it was just a case of holding him together on the climb to the line.

“I just wish he'd do things right,” Camacho said after becoming the first female trainer to exceed £1million in prizemoney in a season. “I keep saying I wish he'd do everything right. He drives us mad. It is just nice that people in the north can have a bit of success, because there are some really good trainers in the north and if we can get the ammunition, we can do well with them. We will probably go to Haydock, although we will put him in at Deauville [for the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest]. Steve will discuss it with Martin [Hughes]. I'm only a very small part. Steve plays a bigger part than I do.”

Brown said, “Oisin was quiet with him at Ascot, but Rossa chose to get close to the pace early and I thought we were doing too much from a fair way out, but to pick up from that you have to say he is a special athlete. He seems to be fluffing his lines a bit at the start. We hoped Ascot was an exception, but he's getting something in his mind–it's possibly the rug.”

“It has been a slow process,” Brown added. “You go back to last December and we were at a cold Wolverhampton on a Saturday night, I believe, so we didn't see the talent at this level immediately. All-Weather Championships day was a disaster and we were forced down a different route. At home, he is a lovely character, very laid-back and doesn't put a foot wrong but doesn't immediately show his talent. We would have three or four horses who would comfortably work better than him. At some point I wouldn't mind giving him a couple of quiet weeks to let him strengthen. He is still a baby, for all he is a talented one. We will have a chat over a cup of tea.”

Henry Candy said of Run To Freedom, “He's a very able horse and we knew he could do that, he showed it at Salisbury and when second behind Kinross in the Champions Sprint last year. You can never quite rely on him, which is why he starts at these ridiculous prices but the ability is there. I wouldn't be surprised if he was able to win one before the end of the year. We'll go to Haydock and we'll go to Ascot in October.”

Ralph Beckett has seven furlongs on the agenda for Kinross again for the immediate future. “I'm really pleased, it's a shade on the easy side for him going six here,” he said. “He'll go to Goodwood [for the G2 Lennox S.] and then probably York [for the G2 City Of York S.] and Longchamp [for the G1 Prix de la Foret] and then back to six for Ascot [for the G1 British Champions Sprint S.].”

Pedigree Notes
Shaquille is the third foal out of the unraced dam Magic (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a daughter of Cheveley Park Stud's top-class sprinter Danehurst (GB) (Danehill) whose eight black-type wins included the G2 Flying Five, G3 Premio Umbria, G3 Prix de Seine-et-Oise and G3 Cornwallis S. Also second in the G1 Golden Jubilee S. and third in this race in 2002, one of her other Galileos was the listed scorer Birch Grove (Ire).

Danehurst is kin to the G3 Prix Penelope winner Humouresque (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) and to the dam of this year's G3 Commonwealth Cup Trial S. runner-up The X O (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), while the family also includes the G1 Cheveley Park S., G2 Lowther S. and G3 Sirenia S.-winning European champion 2-year-old filly Hooray (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and the G2 Cherry Hinton S. winner and G1 1000 Guineas third Dazzle (GB) (Gone West). Magic's yearling colt is by Cable Bay (Ire), while she also has a colt foal by Iffraaj (GB).

Saturday, Newmarket, Britain
PERTEMPS NETWORK JULY CUP-G1, £628,500, Newmarket, 7-15, 3yo/up, 6fT, 1:11.68, g/s.
1–SHAQUILLE (GB), 128, c, 3, by Charm Spirit (Ire)
     1st Dam: Magic (Ire), by Galileo (Ire)
     2nd Dam: Danehurst (GB), by Danehill
     3rd Dam: Miswaki Belle, by Miswaki
O-Hughes, Rawlings, O'Shaughnessy; B-Martin Hughes & Michael Kerr-Dineen (GB); T-Julie Camacho; J-Rossa Ryan. £356,422. Lifetime Record: 8-7-0-0, $1,006,040. Werk Nick Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Run To Freedom (GB), 134, h, 5, Muhaarar (GB)–Twilight Mistress (GB), by Bin Ajwaad (Ire). O-Godfrey Wilson; B-Mrs C R D Wilson (GB); T-Henry Candy. £135,128.
3–Kinross (GB), 134, g, 6, Kingman (GB)–Ceilidh House (GB), by Selkirk. TDN Rising Star. O-Marc Chan; B-Lawn Stud (GB); T-Ralph Beckett. £67,627.
Margins: 1HF, SHD, 1 1/4. Odds: 2.50, 28.00, 4.00.
Also Ran: Art Power (Ire), Khaadem (Ire), Azure Blue (Ire), Vadream (GB), Little Big Bear (Ire). Scratched: Emaraaty Ana (GB).

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Newmarket: “It Will Be A Different Sort of Pressure.” Shaquille the Target in the July Cup

First there was Dettori's ban, meaning that the one missing English group 1 on his palmares was going to stay void. Then the setback to Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never). Now, the persistent rain that dogged Friday's action at Newmarket's July Festival and has changed the complexion of Saturday's feature G1 Pertemps Network July Cup. Ironically, every bit of that unexpected wet spell acted further to aid the cause of Kinross (GB) (Kingman {GB}) who would have been Frankie's final ride in his last-chance saloon which is now closed for business forever.

Among all those twists and turns, the one imperturbable element has been 2023's shock sensation from Julie Camacho and Steve Brown's North Yorkshire-based stable little-known outside of the UK. What their ludicrously-talented 3-year-old colt Shaquille (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}) doesn't know about racing at this stage probably isn't worth labouring over, with his ability to do it any which way offering little hope for his opponents. Showing disdain for some basic universal rules when comfortably overcoming a criminally-slow start in the G1 Commonwealth Cup, he established himself as the sprint division's poster boy and this is his to lose.

“It will be a different sort of pressure, as it looks like we are going to start favourite whereas at Ascot Little Big Bear was a short-priced favourite and we went there slightly under the radar,” Brown said. “So it's different from that perspective, but you've got to deal with it and what a great position to be in–to have a favourite for a group one race. Physically, for all he will probably be a nicer horse next year, he is a big strong fella who holds condition well. We just hope he is maturing as we are going along. It has been a steady progression in the right direction with him and hopefully that will continue on Saturday.”

Camacho added, “We turned him out for three or four days and he started to get a bit fresh. He cantered on the Wednesday after Royal Ascot and he did a nice piece of work last Saturday and everything seems to be good.”

Rain In Time For Kinross…

While Friday's rain was an unwelcome sight for connections of most in this line-up, it was welcomed by Marc Chan and Ralph Beckett as they ponder a second major sprint for TDN Rising Star Kinross. Challenging Shaquille for favouritism on Friday night, last year's G1 Prix de la Foret and G1 British Champions Sprint S. hero looks to have things falling into place at the eleventh hour. That cannot be said for fellow TDN Rising Star, who already had a question mark over him given how readily he was brushed aside late by Shaquille at Royal Ascot before his foot problem. Aidan O'Brien is happy to let him take his chance, but softening ground could add to his woes. “At the moment everything is going well with him. It hasn't been ideal, obviously, but we're happy enough,” he said. “He just missed five or six days last week and we won't know until he runs how much it has affected him.”

Horses For Courses...

If there is one in the field who can be called a track specialist it is Michael Dods's latest sprinting starlet Azure Blue (Ire) (El Kabeir), who is four from five in this town including the Listed Boadicea S. and Listed Kilvington S. Upping her game last time to upset Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) in the G2 1895 Duke of York S. in May, she will be assisted by Paul Mulrennan who is hoping for more of the same. “She wintered very well and is more like a colt–I think she weighs more than 500 kilos and has definitely got better with age,” he said. “She seems to love Newmarket and that's a big thing as the two courses there are unique and test just about everything.”

City Of Troy And Great Truth In TDN Rising Star Superlative Tussle…

Newmarket's G2 Superlative S. has always signalled the beginning of the focus on next year's 2000 Guineas and Saturday's edition is no exception as TDN Rising Stars City Of Troy (Justify) and Great Truth (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) square up after their impressive debuts. While the former excelled in a Curragh maiden that Ballydoyle have turned into a springboard for their Classic prospects down the years, Godolphin's Great Truth was doing his stuff in a Leicester novice that Charlie Appleby used for last year's leading juvenile Naval Power (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}).

Aidan O'Brien was waxing lyrical about City Of Troy and his stride after his debut and said, “We've always thought he was a nice horse. This looks an ideal race for him and hopefully it will do him good long term and it gives him a good education.”

Appleby said of Great Truth, “He was very green that day and hung across to the left, but mentally and physically he's done very well since. When I say physically, he's tightened up, but mentally he galloped on Wednesday, William rode him, and he was very slick. We were second with Victory Dance last year and he didn't quite get to where we hoped he might get. But this year, with Aidan's horse, it will be tough, because he looks decent. But we like our horse. He is slick.”
Charlie Hills has a live contender in Teme Valley and Ballylinch Stud's Iberian (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), who may not have carried the same gravitas of the big two into his introduction at Newbury but who gave the impression he has a bright future nonetheless. “Charlie is quite bold on him and he shows up quite well in the mornings,” Teme Valley's racing manager Richard Ryan said. “We're hopeful progress can continue to be made, but it is a hell of a race.”

Best Of The Rest…

Ascot's Saturday card sees the G2 Fred Cowley MBE Memorial Summer Mile, where Shadwell's Aldaary (GB) (Territories {Ire}) looks to build on his solid comeback fourth in Newmarket's G3 Criterion S. at the start of the month. The William Haggas-trained Listed Spring Trophy winner was coming back off a 420-day absence in that seven-furlong contest and has the easing ground to suit, as does the 2021 G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and G1 Criterium International hero Angel Bleu (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}) who could make it a big day for Marc Chan and Ralph Beckett. The nationwide rain was also very welcome for another Haggas bigwig in Hamish (GB) (Motivator {GB}) ahead of York's G3 Silver Cup.

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Piecing Together The July Cup Puzzle

There have been few more wide-open editions of Newmarket's G1 Darley July Cup than takes place on Saturday, with no stand-out among the 14 and nothing too far over its head that a surprise can be safely ruled out. There is an Australian runner, but Artorius (Aus) (Flying Artie {Aus}) was too much in the scrum in the G1 Platinum Jubilee S. to suggest he has an edge over the British and Irish. There are seven re-opposing from that Royal Ascot feature, with the worst-placed Emaraaty Ana (GB) (Shamardal) under six lengths off the winner Naval Crown (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) despite finishing 15th. Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum's G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) is possibly the pick of the 3-year-olds, but not by far and there is a nagging sense that they may not be up to the usual standard.

That is not the view of Hugo Palmer, who paid £36,000 to supplement the Commonwealth Cup runner-up Flaming Rib (Ire) (Ribchester {Ire}). “At the inception of the Commonwealth Cup, people used to go on about how 3-year-old sprinters really struggled against their elders but they do have a good record in the race and I'm sure that it's only going to get better because of the 3-year-old sprinting programme,” he said. “It is really nurturing 3-year-old sprint talent and I expect the 3-year-old trend to continue going forwards.”

 

His Crowning Moment?

If the older brigade are to establish dominion, perhaps the straightforward answer is Godolphin's Naval Crown who was winning the June 18 Platinum Jubilee on what seemed to be an unfavoured stand's rail having to race alone for the last two furlongs. That was also his second effort at sprinting, with a fourth in the Mar. 26 G1 Al Quoz Sprint his baptism of fire over this six-furlong trip, so there is significant upside to his profile now he is concentrated on this category. Stablemate Creative Force (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) came off a neck worse on that occasion, but he had the best trip of the two and this ground is in stark contrast to that which he encountered in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint S. on Ascot's Champions Day.

“He's still a junior in the sprinting ranks, but one with the potential to progress even higher in the rankings,” Charlie Appleby said of Naval Crown. “Creative Force has had experience of the track and the race, which are important factors in his favour. This time, he is more seasoned and comes to the July Cup off the back of a great second in one of the most competitive Group 1 sprints seen for some time.”

 

A Decent Proposal

Eddie Lynam is one of a few trainers who has been labelled a “Sprint King” in recent times and a Group 1 win in England seems long overdue. Step forward Clipper Logistics' mare Romantic Proposal (Ire) (Raven's Pass), who relished quick ground when taking The Curragh's G1 Flying Five in September where she mastered the likes of A Case Of You (Ire) (Hot Streak {Ire}), Glass Slippers (GB) (Dream Ahead), Dragon Symbol (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}) and Rohaan (Ire) (Mayson {GB}). She stays at least six furlongs, despite her recent highlights coming over shorter, and has been freshened since her return win in Naas's Listed Woodlands S. Apr. 25. Another filly in the mix is last year's G1 Coronation S. and G1 Sussex S. heroine Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never), who was under three-lengths ninth in the Platinum Jubilee on her first start at this trip since winning the G1 Cheveley Park S. at two.

“There is no secret she is a better horse with cut in the ground, but she is really well at the moment and we are keen to use this as a stepping stone to going back to Goodwood for the Sussex S. and the rest of the year,” trainer Andrew Balding said.

 

Another Superlative Special?

   Charlie Appleby has won four of the last six runnings of Newmarket's G2 bet365 Superlative S. and supplies another deeply promising Godolphin juvenile in the June 18 course-and-distance scorer Victory Dance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), a half-brother to Skitter Scatter (Scat Daddy). “We were pleased with Victory Dance's debut and he has definitely come forward for the run mentally,” his trainer said. “He looks the type of horse who is going to progress physically as the season goes on, but it was always the plan to take this well-trodden route with him.”

Things may not be entirely straightforward for Moulton Paddocks this time, however, with Qatar Racing's 'TDN Rising Star' Lion Of War (GB) (Roaring Lion) in attendance along with Manton Thoroughbreds' May 31 Newbury maiden winner Isaac Shelby (GB) (Night of Thunder {Ire}). The former was the 10-length winner of a seven-furlong novice on Newcastle's Tapeta June 23, but Charlie Johnston is keeping his feet on the ground.

“You can't get carried away with the form–he has won two pretty weak contests, but the manner in which he has done it has been very impressive and we felt he was ready for a step up in class,” he said. “It is hard to know how strong it is in terms of quality, because there are three who have a very similar profile to us. We'll find out how good he is–we can dream a little if he wins.”

Ascot's G2 Fred Cowley MBE Memorial Summer Mile provides the day's other highlight, with the May 14 G1 Lockinge S. third Chindit (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) meeting a clutch of other performers who operate at just under the top level.

Click here for the group fields.

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