Neil Morrice brings us all of his best bets from Saturday’s racing at Newmarket and Ascot including an in-depth preview of the Darley July Cup.
Newmarket Best Bets
Darley July Cup (Group 1)
With Blue Point retired to the stallion barn there’s a wide-open look about the highlight of the three day July Festival with the balance between three-year-olds and older horses finely divided.
The younger brigade have dominated in recent seasons with Ascot’s Commonwealth Cup a reliable pointer to the winner. This brings ADVERTISE in as a worthy favourite, as he ran out a decisive winner of the Commonwealth race with TEN SOVEREIGNS behind in fifth.
Aside from being in the form of his life, Advertise can boast course and distance winning form in a Group 2 here as a juvenile and he looks to have a fine chance of giving Frankie Dettori another big race triumph.
TEN SOVEREIGNS started a warm favourite for the Commonwealth Cup after failing to get the Guineas mile. He never looked like justifying his market position and needs to reassert himself as his halo has unquestionably slipped.
Stablemate FAIRYLAND has competed over a mile and five furlongs in her three starts this year, finishing out of the money in both the Newmarket and Irish 1,000 Guineas before failing to menace in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot.
However, the way she finished that latest start suggests six furlongs could be her optimum distance, and as a dual Group 1 winning juvenile she has to be respected.
LIMATO impressively won the corresponding race three years ago, and while not as good as he was goes into battle off a gritty triumph in the seven furlongs Criterion Stakes here. While a mile is a bridge too far for Limato, he seems just as effective in a strongly run six furlong sprint as over seven.
DREAM OF DREAMS is an upwardly mobile slow burner who at the age of five is just living up to his potential for trainer Sir Michael Stoute.
He brings arguably the best form to the table, having finished best of all to run Blue Point close in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes last month.
You have to go a long way back to find the last of Stoute’s three winners of this race, Ajdal in 1987, but the Freemason Lodge handler seems to have the obvious danger to Advertise in his hands.
Neil Morrice’s Predicted Finish
1st DREAM OF DREAMS
2nd Advertise
3rd Limato
4th Fairyland
5th Ten Sovereigns
Newmarket July Cup Day undercard Best Bets
Race 2: HONEST ALBERT (5)
Trainer: John Gosden
Jockey: Frankie Dettori
The greater potential of unbeaten HONEST ALBERT makes him the one to be on in this fascinating Class 2 handicap. The colt has been given plenty of time by his trainer and after storming home at Nottingham now takes a big jump up the class ladder. He was visually very impressive that day and can show himself to be a Group horse in the making.
Race 3: WILD THUNDER (7)
Trainer: Richard Hannon
Jockey: Sean Levey
Hannon makes things tricky by also fielding Mystery Power but WILD THUNDER greatly impressed me when scoring on his debut at Goodwood where despite running green he showed the ability to get out of trouble to win decisively. His trainer let him bypass Royal Ascot and brings him into this Superlative Stakes a fresh horse. It’s a big jump into a Group 2 but that applies to all eight runners, most of whom are horses with big home reputations to live up to.
Ascot Best Bets
Race 3 No2 MODERN MILLIE (Each Way)
Trainer: Mick Channon
Jockey: Silvestre de Sousa
Mixed fortunes have greeted MODERN MILLIE on her two visits to this course in recent weeks with a more than satisfactory third placing in May followed by a luckless run in the ultra-competitive Sandringham Stakes at the Royal meeting where she met trouble with every avenue blocked. And although disappointing a tad last week in a Listed race at Sandown she can show she’s better than that.
Race 5: ZAAKI (8)
Trainer: Sir Michael Stoute
Jockey: Kerrin McEvoy
An eye-catching jockey booking for ZAAKI as he attempts to make further improvement up the class ladder in this Group 2. Having looked to have something up his sleeve when landing the Group 3 Diomed Stakes at Epsom, he leapfrogged the Royal meeting to wait for this. In contract his main foe Beat The Bank ran a corker to finish second in the Queen Anne Stakes. Last year’s winner of this is clearly a major threat but ZAAKI is preferred.
