Nick Luck
Nick Luck’s William Hill Blog: Newmarket July Festival Day One Best Bets
William Hill ambassador Nick Luck previews the day one action from Newmarket’s July Festival as well as two trials from Doncaster on Thursday.
Thursday, Newmarket
DEL MARO can confirm Royal Ascot form with Point Of Law and Galiyan in the Bahrain Trophy which opens up Newmarket’s July Festival on Thursday (1.50pm). None of the trio had a perfect passage through the race that day, but Del Maro had to weave his way through traffic late and was firmly on top of the other pair at the line despite not racing on the best part of the track. His stable does much better at this meeting, and he’ll take a bit of beating.
HICKORY LAD might be the overpriced one in the July Stakes (2.25pm). The favourite Inner City Blues looked smart on his debut, but didn’t look the finished article, and doesn’t have a stellar pedigree. Adaay Of Scarlett, meanwhile, is a proper little pro and the form choice, but the Coventry might not have been a strong edition, and he had a tough race. The selection, by contrast, made a real impression when scooting up in the Woodcote, and is well worth this step up in grade. He skipped Ascot, will have a freshness edge, and could be the controlling speed in a small field.
RIVER SPEY looks well worth an each-way interest in a smart sprint handicap (3.00pm). His seasonal debut was rather insipid, but he left that well behind with a much better effort at Windsor, beating some fair rivals with a bit in hand. The handicapper hasn’t gone crazy, he’ll enjoy this fast ground, and should continue to progress, albeit he’ll need to against stronger opposition.
CONVERGENT is the pick in the Princess Of Wales’s Stakes (3.35pm). He looked really smart at Newbury in the spring and can easily be forgiven sinking in the desperate ground at Epsom. Calandagan and Illinois have both bounced back from terrible runs in that race, however, and the selection can do the same. He only has four pounds to find with the admirable Rebel’s Romance on ratings and has potential to blow right by him. A question over his ability to handle faster ground may be what is pushing his price out, but there’s no evidence to say he won’t, nor any indication from his pedigree.
Thursday, Doncaster
ARCTIC FORCE looks a likely one in the Champagne Trial at Doncaster (2.10pm). He’s out of a smart mare who has already produced a Group winner and is by a better stallion in Night Of Thunder. He has an entry in the National Stakes and, with the Godolphin apparent first string hooded on debut, he looks to have strong credentials.
ACCORDING TO MARK makes a case for himself in the grandly labelled St Leger Trial (2.45pm). He’s potentially quite a smart horse, but he hung the latch at Pontefract last time in a race he probably should have won. He’s been gelded since, which could easily bring about a stack of improvement.
