Enjoying days in the sun during the last decade with Lethal Force (Ire) and Harry Angel (Ire), it did not take long for Clive Cox to unearth another star sprinter and the former's son Golden Horde (Ire) looks to emulate his achievement in winning the G1 Darley July Cup at Newmarket on Saturday. Dynamic when winning the G1 Commonwealth Cup on similar ground at Royal Ascot on June 19, last year's G2 Richmond S. winner and G1 Middle Park S. runner-up gets six pounds weight-for-age from the older brigade and 3-year-olds have won three of the last four editions. His trainer said he believes the Commonwealth Cup will have brought him on. “I think mentally with a sprinter, it's more important than anything to have a proper race,” Cox said of AlMohamediya Racing's chestnut. “It's great we've got that run under our belt and we've won his Group 1, which is fabulous. I have every confidence he's bound to have taken a step forwards mentally as much as anything for having that race.”
“He's going in here with a very helpful weight-for-age allowance and I think physically he's in good nick,” the Lambourn handler added. “It's a formula that works–it's tried and tested and I believe in it very much, but as an individual this fellow is extremely mature and strong as a 3-year-old. Lethal Force was helped by the extra maturity of being a 4-year-old, but with the allowance Golden Horde is going to be a worthy favourite.
“It's a pleasure to know we've won it in the past, but it's all about being in the right races with the right horses and I'm just so thrilled we've got a horse of this calibre to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Harry Angel and Lethal Force. He can make his own running, but he got a lead in the Richmond last year so I don't have any particular concerns about tactics.”
In a fascinating encounter, the June 20 G1 Diamond Jubilee S. first and third Hello Youmzain (Fr) (Kodiac {GB}) and Sceptical (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) take on the younger generation with the former also applying pressure from the front at Royal Ascot. Last year's G1 Haydock Sprint Cup winner now races for the partnership of Haras d'Etreham and Cambridge Stud and trainer Kevin Ryan is hoping he can add another major prize to his tally. “He's in good form and we're very happy with him going into the race, but it's another tough race–they've all turned up.”
Ryan also saddles Brando (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), who was third in this in 2017 and runner-up in 2018. “Brando loves it at Newmarket and has run well in the race before,” he added. “The ground will be right for Brando, so we're more than happy with him as well. He's only run 39 times in his life, so he's got low mile mileage for a sprinter. Hello Youmzain was always going to strengthen up in the winter, as he's a big horse and as a sprinter they always do that.”
Sceptical would have been pulling off a fairytale win for the Denis Hogan stable in the Diamond Jubilee and Frankie Dettori was castigating himself for committing too early on that occasion. “I felt I went too soon at Ascot–I hit the front and stopped,” the rider said. “Denis said he could improve the horse a bit, because he missed one gallop before the race. I think perhaps a bit softer footing and me going too soon might have made the difference between winning and losing. The July Cup is the only Group 1 I haven't won in England. It looks a wide-open contest and we're going to try again.”
One who could enter the fray from leftfield is the Roger Teal-trained 4-year-old Oxted (GB), a son of the 2012 soft-ground July Cup hero Mayson (GB) who took the G3 Abernant S. over this six-furlong trip on the Rowley Mile on June 5. Last year's champion apprentice Cieren Fallon rides in the race that his father never managed to win, which adds extra spice. “He is going into the race with me really pleased with him at home,” Teal said. “He is drawn nine and I think that is okay. I would just like the ground to tighten up a bit. He looked good at the Rowley Mile last time and he was second over here last year.”
In the card's G2 bet365 Superlative S., Aidan O'Brien saddles the 'TDN Rising Star' Hudson River (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) whose dam Mecca's Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) was at home on easy ground. His comfortable debut success in a seven-furlong Curragh maiden on June 28 marked him as potentially special, but he meets several similarly unexposed types from leading stables. One is Prince Faisal's Seventh Kingdom (GB) (Frankel {GB}), a John Gosden-trained relative of the 2017 Superlative winner Gustav Klimt (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who scored by four lengths at Doncaster on June 13. “He has come out of his Doncaster race well and seems in good form at home,” Gosden said. “It was on the easy side at Doncaster, so he should handle the ground but obviously it is a huge jump in class. We did think about going for a novice with a penalty, but we thought we would try our luck.”
Godolphin have won this three times, including with Dubawi (Ire) in 2004 and with his ill-fated son Quorto (Ire) two years ago. The latter's trainer Charlie Appleby saddles Master of the Seas (Ire), who took a soft-ground maiden over this seven-furlong trip on June 18. “He has come out of his last race well,” he commented. “Looking at them on paper, they have all either just broken their maidens or won novices, so we felt he wouldn't look out of place. He has definitely come forward for his last run. The form has worked out okay, because the second horse has come out and won. We liked our horse the last day and the first two pulled well clear. He is very straightforward and the ground will be no problem at all for him.”
At Ascot, Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum's Mohaather (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) looks for better fortune then he encountered when seventh in the G1 Queen Anne S. at the Royal meeting on June 16 when he lines up as the favourite in the G2 Summer Mile S. He has significant ground to make up on the third-placed Marie's Diamond (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) on that form, but Shadwell's racing manager Angus Gold said he believes he is better than his finishing position. “He was unlucky not to be a lot closer,” he said. “I'm not saying he would have won it, but he never got a run at them at all. He was in particularly good form going into Ascot. I just hope he is still in as good form now and I see no reason why he wouldn't be. We just hope for a bit of luck and see what he can do.”
One who could shake up the exiting order is Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum's San Donato (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), who returns from a lengthy lay-off having finished third in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains on his sole 3-year-old start last May. Andrea Atzeni will be on board the Roger Varian-trained 4-year-old and he said, “He obviously runs well fresh, because he hadn't run for a long time when he ran in the French Guineas–he ran a good race that day behind two very good horses. He has been training well and his work has been very good. He should like the ground and we would be very hopeful he will be competitive. His work has been very pleasing, but he is a horse that we have always liked. He did have a hold-up last year, which is why he only ran the once in the French Guineas, but he has been in full training for a bit now and he looks great.”
On Sunday, the G1 Qatar Prix Jean Prat takes centre stage and Godolphin's 2019 juvenile champion Pinatubo (Ire) (Shamardal) was one of 11 3-year-olds declared for the seven-furlong test over Deauville's straight track. Third in the G1 2000 Guineas at Newmarket June 6 and runner-up in the G1 St James's Palace S. at Royal Aascot a fortnight later, he bids to follow where Too Darn Hot (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) led 12 months ago and Charlie Appleby issued an upbeat bulletin on Friday. “We have been delighted with Pinatubo going into the Prix Jean Prat. He has put up two gallant performances over a mile, but the drop back to seven furlongs should suit,” he said. “We feel that he sees the mile out, but he has just been outstayed on both occasions this season.”
Pinatubo has failed to scare off meaningful opposition and will meet a pair of Ballydoyle runners in Arizona (Ire) (No Nay Never) and Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), two from the Andre Fabre stable in Alson (Ger) (Areion {Ger}) and Tropbeau (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) and also Shadwell's June 18 G3 Jersey S. winner Molatham (GB) (Night of Thunder {Ire}). Appleby is unconcerned and is bullish ahead of the race. “This is hopefully the right race for him to get his head back in front,” he said. “We know that the distance is well within his comfort zone and it is his last opportunity to take on three-year-olds only at this level. He is in good order and we will be disappointed if he doesn't win.” The official ground at Deauville is expected to be good, with no significant rainfall forecast in the run-up to the fixture.
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