Saturday's G1 Darley July Cup may be wide open, but that is no slur and more a reflection of how many class acts are in the line-up as it features all of Royal Ascot's group 1 sprint winners and six top-level scorers in total, one of which is the Diamond Jubilee hero Twilight Son (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}). He may not have won that June 18 Royal Ascot feature by a “Stravinsky-style” wide margin, but that may just be the manner of Godfrey Wilson and Cheveley Park Stud's non-flashy but highly effective 4-year-old when it comes to the crunch. The only defeats for the reigning G1 Haydock Sprint Cup winner came at the hands of Muhaarar (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint S. at Ascot in October and when reportedly under-cooked on his return in the May 11 G2 Duke of York S., so it is still difficult to tie him down. Henry Candy also saddles Paul Jacobs's Limato (Ire) (Tagula {Ire}), a star in his own right and before last September undoubtedly the top dog at his Wantage stable. Hampered by Europe's increasingly wet weather of late, it is hard to believe that he has yet to register his own win at the highest level but he showed when unleashing a killer turn of foot to destroy his rivals in the seven-furlong G2 Park S. at Doncaster in September that he definitely belongs in that category. Luck was against him again when second from a high draw in the G1 Prix de la Foret over that trip at Longchamp the following month and also on his return over a mile in the G1 Lockinge S. at Newbury May 14, where the rain-softened ground nullified his best weapon and he plugged on into fourth. “Twilight Son is not such an exciting horse to watch, whereas Limato captured people's imagination,” Candy said. “His performance at Doncaster last year was electrifying and although he didn't win the Foret, the amount of ground he made up was extraordinary. Limato is quite a dramatic horse to watch. Twilight Son is more the workman. He has got the job done a few times. I do think he has progressed from Ascot–going on what Ryan Moore has said he will improve with that run. The attitude and his work have been very good. Obviously it is a short time between two group ones, so we have not done a lot of work. He will need to be a little bit better than at Ascot, but I am hopeful that he will be.” Limato has to drop back down to the trip over which he was second in the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot last June and his trainer is in the dark as to how he will handle that. “I've been slightly training Limato to get him to settle with a mile in mind all the time,” he added. “The Lockinge was inconclusive. I think he got the mile okay. The horses were not right and the ground was against him. He still ran a cracking race. Taking him back in trip in a very serious group one he might be against it, but that speed is still there and he has shown that. Whether his mind is quite sharp enough to compete with the out-and-out speed of the race remains to be seen. It's just been frustrating it has been a wet spring, as we have not found out what we would have liked to about the horse. I think if he did confirm himself as a sprinter we would stick to sprinting.”
This year's revelation among the sprinting 3-year-olds is the filly Quiet Reflection (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), who captured what was probably a much weaker renewal of the G1 Commonwealth Cup June 17 than the inaugural one in which Limato was second 12 months ago. She was arguably more impressive when winning the G2 Sandy Lane S. on similar ground to this at Haydock May 28, where her potent acceleration was seen to greater effect. She has to take on her elders for the first time, which is a different matter but trainer Karl Burke has her in peak condition. “She's strengthened again from Ascot and is maturing all the time,” he said. “She looks stronger and has actually put some muscle on, as you would expect from a three-year-old at this time of year. Watching her she looked very powerful. It will be interesting and I'm looking forward to it, but I'm not going there over-confident. You've got to give respect to the horses and trainers involved with those older horses. We go there with our eyes open and we've got nothing to lose. We'll find out how good we are.”
The third of the Royal Ascot group 1 winners is Alan Spence's Profitable (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who has made his name with three straight successes over five furlongs this season culminating in the June 14 G1 King's Stand S. While he has had just the one start over this trip, that resulted in a fifth in the Commonwealth Cup last term and he was only 1 1/2 lengths behind Limato there so it is likely that he will be as effective at this distance as he is over the minimum. Trainer Clive Cox has also been waiting for this faster ground, which his sire's progeny tend to need to be at their best, so there could be more to come from the 4-year-old. “There are no two ways about it, the sixth furlong is an unknown and is something that we are a little uncertain about,” he explained. “He has been extremely successful over five furlongs and since the Nunthorpe Stakes at York is far enough away, we were very keen to give him a run in between then and Royal Ascot. Last year he ran in the Nunthorpe after a break and I feel that he is clearly better with a busy racing programme. So the choice was between running him at Goodwood with a five-pound penalty or running at Newmarket without one.”
Beaten just a half length in total when fourth in the Diamond Jubilee on unsuitably soft ground, the Duke of York winner Magical Memory (Ire) (Zebedee {GB}) is pitched in against Twilight Son again and connections are full of expectation now that the drying weather has come to their aid. “We have beaten Twilight Son once and that was on quick ground and he's beaten us on the slower side of good. This time we'll have a real crack at him, hopefully,” Kennet Valley Thoroughbreds's Sam Hoskins commented. “He is a very good horse and there is probably a bit more depth to this race with the likes of Limato and Profitable. Our horse is a good horse. He showed that at Ascot, even though things didn't go right for him. Hopefully they will go flat out.”
It is a measure of the quality of this renewal that the likes of Air Force Blue (War Front) and Don't Touch (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) trade at double-figure odds, but the former has looked a pale imitation of his juvenile days when 12th and 7th in the G1 English and Irish 2000 Guineas respectively, albeit on slow ground over a mile that stretches him. Don't Touch took a strong renewal of the Listed Cathedral S. over this trip at Salisbury last time June 12 and remains relatively unexposed. “I have been very pleased with Don't Touch since his Salisbury win and we are going up another gear with him,” commented trainer Richard Fahey, who also saddles last year's third Eastern Impact (Ire) (Bahamian Bounty {GB}). “I think the big field, fast ground and uphill finish will be tailor-made for him. We have intentionally kept Eastern Impact fresh for this race as he likes Newmarket and seems to be seven pounds better there than anywhere else. He may not have run for a couple of months, but he has not had any issues and he certainly won't blow up.”
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