'He's A Horse With Loads of Speed': Buick Relishing Notable Speech Bid

Godolphin's 2,000 Guineas and Sussex Stakes winner Notable Speech will face 14 rivals in Saturday's G1 Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai July Cup at Newmarket. Supplemented for £36,000 by Charlie Appleby on Monday, the son of Dubawi will be partnered by William Buick with Oisin Murphy on the Sandy Lane Stakes-winning second-string Symbol Of Honour (Havana Grey). They currently occupy two of the first three spots in the market, with the former expected to go off favourite for the six-furlong feature.

William Buick reflected on Notable Speech's tilt at a media event on the July Course on Thursday. “I have always felt that he could drop back in trip, certainly to seven furlongs. I know Charlie had earmarked the City Of York Stakes as one of his possible targets,” he said. “We won't know fully until we try dropping back to six furlongs for the July Cup, but I think it's worth a try.”

“He is a horse with loads of speed and if he can adapt to that early pace and be within himself, I think he'll be there with a very good show. He was a bit unlucky in the Queen Anne. It was such a nightmare of a race and they went so slow. We were in a pocket. It was just one of those races where you couldn't really take too much out of it–we just had to put a line through it and move on.”

“It will be a different thing to what he has done. If you go back to the Guineas he won, it was a strongly run Guineas and run at a fast pace throughout. He is a horse with a high cruising speed, so I hope he will give himself every chance to travel within himself early in the race wherever he is happy.”

Wathnan Racing's Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes third Flora Of Bermuda (Dark Angel), Ballydoyle's G1 Prix Morny winner Whistlejacket (No Nay Never), the Al Quoz Sprint winner Believing (Mehmas) and last year's Commonwealth Cup hero Inisherin (Shamardal) are other notables, with the latter sporting cheekpieces as he is reunited with Tom Eaves.