'I've Got The Monkey Off My Back': Hughes Revels In No Half Measures' July Cup Shock

After all the will-they or won't-theys leading up to Saturday's G1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai July Cup, it came down to the hardened sprinters and a hardened jockey with No Half Measures (Cable Bay) springing a 66-1 upset under Neil Callan. Campaigned mainly over five furlongs so far, last year's G3 World Trophy winner relished the step up to six to overwhelm Big Mojo (Mohaather) in the last half a furlong and provide Richard Hughes with a first Group One winner as a trainer.

“I've got the monkey off my back, that's for sure,” commented Hughes, who rode Oasis Dream to success in this in 2003. “I was a little bit naive when I started training–I thought if I bought 20 horses, one of them was going to be good, then I bought 20 the following year and still no good one came along. I can retire now saying I rode a July Cup winner and trained one, so that's really nice.”

Drawn widest away from the stand's rail, which seemed to be carrying a bias at this meeting, the four-year-old was handed an ideal lead by the Jersey runner-up Spy Chief (Kingman) with Notable Speech (Dubawi) and co waiting to join battle on the other side. That 85-40 favourite looked to be going best inside the last two furlongs, but as his run flattened out No Half Measures emerged to power past the 12-1 shot Big Mojo and prevail by a neck, with the 40-1 shot Run To Freedom (Muhaarar) completing the shock tricast 1 3/4 lengths away.

“Richard told me she's very genuine and better with a bit of dig in the ground, but that it was an open race and they had to have a go,” commented the winner's journeyed jockey, who had ridden successfully in Hong Kong and had recently been served with a ban by the BHA for social media comments. “I left her alone for as long as possible and when I gave her a flick she accelerated. I'm getting into the twilight of my career, but the one thing I have is a lot of self-belief and every dog has his day.”

With nine of her 13 starts prior to this over five, No Half Measures was actually three-from-four at this trip with her only try since last April resulting in a win in Deauville's Listed Prix Moonlight Cloud in August. Looking exposed on form figures entering this feature, with her two races this term resulting in a ninth in the Rowley Mile's G3 Palace House Stakes and a second in the Listed Achilles Stakes, she did nevertheless retain that potential over the extra distance.

While Spy Chief did too much in front, the winner and Run To Freedom were the ones racing away from the main group which proved vital as their riders played the clock to perfection. Notable Speech travelled along with the true sprinters as if he truly belonged, but when the exhausting final climb came into view he had already given everything.

In the end, the perceived stand's-side bias led to a burn-up and the front three all came from the middle of the track outwards. When all was said and done, the race was won both in the first furlong, where No Half Measures was one of the few who ran to par and in the final two, where her 11.36 and 13.14 were the fastest of the whole field, which is not always the case. Big Mojo comes out of this with huge credit, with his initial furlong split of 14.14 just too fast and it was no surprise that this five-furlong specialist couldn't last up the hill late on.

Hughes later recounted the voyage to Group One glory. “Disappointments when you're training are very hard and the highs don't meet the lows–they aren't even high enough–it's an up-and-down game and I'm coping better with it now than I used to,” he said. “It's been a tough enough ride to get to here, but I'm definitely appreciating it more now than when I started.”

“I didn't appreciate all those good horses when I was riding, I just took it for granted and I was very lucky to be riding for Richard Hannon and having the Khalid Abdullah job,” he added. “We get a good horse through the yard now and again and I'm trying to mind it like a baby and I'm watching it every day in case it goes wrong, because you probably only have one or two bullets.”

“I was a little bit naive when I started training–I thought if I bought 20 horses, one of them was going to be good, then I bought 20 the following year and still no good one came along, but I've got the monkey off my back that's for sure and I can retire now saying I rode a July Cup winner and trained one, so that's really nice.”

Of No Half Measures, he added, “She won here last year in a handicap and when Ryan [Moore] got off her I asked him if we'd get a bit of black-type and he said 'she's better than that' which is something Ryan never says! He's a realist, so I was quite surprised by that,” the trainer revealed. “We plotted to get our black-type and we got it and she's done nothing but improve. I would have been pleased even with second or third, so to win is just a bonus.”

Owner Paul Teasdale said of Big Mojo, “I'm absolutely delighted with him. We've tried him over six this year, we've been brave. Today was always going to be a tough ask, but he did fantastically well. I'm really proud of him, I thought he'd just about got it but not quite, I'm still delighted. The King George, the Nunthorpe, the Flying Five–we're in all of them, so we've got some options. He travels so well, he can withstand the pace and he's got a great finish in him. He's really maturing into a top-class horse.”

Charlie Appleby is going back up to seven furlongs with Notable Speech, with the G1 City of York Stakes on his agenda. “Will genuinely sounded disappointed, he said he'd thought he'd done everything right and then at the business end he just didn't finish,” he said. “We've been seeing the same thing at a mile, so maybe we've got a look a bit harder at him, I don't know. It was always going to be hard to jump to make an assessment after his first time sprinting at this level. I see no reason not to meet halfway at seven and go to York, which was always our plan.”

66/1 winner! 🤯

NO HALF MEASURES WINS THE @ABE_Dubai JULY CUP🏆@NewmarketRace pic.twitter.com/0aek58rF62

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) July 12, 2025

Pedigree Notes
No Half Measures is the second foal out of Fascinator (Helmet), a daughter of the G3 Molecomb Stakes runner-up Mary Read (Bahamian Bounty) who is also the second dam of Kachy (Kyllachy) who captured that race and was placed in the G1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes and G1 Commonwealth Cup. Mary Read is kin to the Listed Oh So Sharp Stakes-placed Tiana (Diktat), dam of three black-type winners including the five-times Group 2 winner Beat The Bank (Paco Boy) and Exceed And Excel's G3 Chipchase Stakes winner and G1 Haydock Sprint Cup third Chil Chil. Fascinator has the unraced three-year-old filly Gypsophila (Expert Eye), the £130,000 Goffs UK Premier two-year-old filly Mystic Veil (Showcasing) and a yearling colt by Territories.

Saturday, Newmarket, Britain
AL BASTI EQUIWORLD, DUBAI JULY CUP STAKES-G1, £657,000, Newmarket, 7-12, 3yo/up, 6fT, 1:11.18, g/f.
1–NO HALF MEASURES (GB), 131, f, 4, by Cable Bay (Ire)
1st Dam: Fascinator (GB), by Helmet (Aus)
2nd Dam: Mary Read (GB), by Bahamian Bounty (GB)
3rd Dam: Hill Welcome (GB), by Most Welcome (GB)
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (£34,000 Ylg '22 GOFFUK). O-R P Gallagher; B-Bumble Bloodstock & Mrs S Nicholls; T-Richard Hughes; J-Neil Callan. £372,585. Lifetime Record: SW-Fr, 14-7-2-1, $695,157. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Big Mojo (Ire), 128, c, 3, Mohaather (GB)–Jm Jackson (Ire), by No Nay Never. 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. (175,000gns Ylg '23 TADEY). O-RP Racing Ltd; B-Ringfort Stud Ltd & The Ladies; T-Michael Appleby. £141,255.
3–Run To Freedom (GB), 134, h, 7, Muhaarar (GB)–Twilight Mistress (GB), by Bin Ajwaad (Ire). O-Godfrey Wilson; B-Mrs C R D Wilson; T-Henry Candy. £70,693.
Margins: NK, 1 3/4, SHD. Odds: 66.00, 12.00, 40.00.
Also Ran: Believing (Ire), Notable Speech (GB), Jasour (GB), Spy Chief (GB), Symbol Of Honour (GB), Rogue Lightning (Ire), Ides Of March (Ire), Night Raider (Ire), Whistlejacket (Ire), Twilight Calls (GB), Flora Of Bermuda (Ire).