All eyes will be on the July Course for one of the feature meetings of the summer, the Newmarket July Festival, and the action gets underway on Thursday.
A packed seven-race card is headlined by the Group 2 Princess of Wales’s Stakes over a mile and a half and boasts some high profile previous winners.
1.50pm – Bahrain Trophy Stakes (Group 3)
Queen’s Vase runner-up FURTHER (NAP) is actually doing the opposite to his name, and dropping back a furlong today at Newmarket.
Rated 105, Andrew Balding’s youngster is a son of the Arc winner Waldgeist, and should be prominent throughout.
He was only picked off late at Royal Ascot, and you would like to think he can fend the others off over this shorter 1m5f trip.
2.25pm – July Stakes (Group 2)
The Aidan O’Brien-trained BRUSSELS sprouted wings to deny his stablemate Kansas on debut at the Curragh, and can follow up in this winnable Group 2.
Already given a pile of possible engagements down the line, including the Railway, Phoenix, Gimcrack, Weatherby’s 2-y-o and the National Stakes, O’Brien clearly thinks this Wootton Bassett-colt is the real deal.
3.00pm – 6f Heritage Handicap
He may only be three years old, but it feels like Godolphin’s HALLASAN has been around for ages. That’s probably because we saw him racing several times at Meydan over the winter, where he had a really successful time of it.
Last season’s Weatherby’s 2-y-o scorer can now go well in handicap company, and is trading at a nice each-way price in the betting.
3.35pm – Princess Of Wales’s Stakes (Group 2)
Dante runner-up WIMBLEDON HAWKEYE would be a topical racecourse winner on what is currently the second week of the famous SW19 tennis tournament.
After skipping the Derby, James Owen’s three-year-old was last seen running a solid fourth behind Amiloc in the King Edward VII Stakes. He can go really close this afternoon and is a very solid bet.
4.10pm – 6f EBF Maiden Fillies’ Stakes
Manor House Stables run a nice filly here called ENAMORUS.
She is a half-sister to three winners, including German Listed scorer Nashirah, out of Perfect Light, a dual-winning Galileo full-sister to high-class two-year-old Iberia.
Her second and third dams, Beauty Bright and Dietrich, were both Group winners so quality runs deep in her family, and she can give a good account of herself on debut.
4.45pm – Sir Henry Cecil Stakes (Listed Race)
The three Godolphin runners in this field will probably be popular in the horse racing betting, but it is Charlie Hills’ ELARAK who makes the most appeal in this one mile affair.
Returning here after a commanding 5½ length course and distance victory last time, there is no reason why Elarak shouldn’t do the same thing all over again.
5.20pm – Newmarket Handicap
Course and distance winner DUTCH DECOY creeps into this handicap off bottom weight and given the current form of the Johnston stable, he’s well worth an each-way punt at the very least.
It’s quite some time now since the eight-year-old scored his ninth victory, but his Doncaster performance last time was highly encouraging, and hopefully his 8st 13lb can be exploited to the max.
