Juvenile Watch: July Festival two-year-old tips
Our two-year-old expert Ross Millar picks out his star of the week from the recent action - a colt who might just continue to surprise - and looks forward to the three Group races for juveniles at the Boodles July Festival and shares his pick for each. See what happens live on Racing TV!
Star of the week
It’s perhaps no surprise that, as we head into the height of the Flat season, it becomes harder and harder to pick just one standout performance from the previous week.
Murashah is certainly deserving of a mention, the Night Of Thunder colt taking an age to understand what was expected of him on debut at Haydock before motoring home under an intelligent and considerate ride from Jim Crowley. The Charlie Hills juvenile showed bravery to poke through a gap up the rail in the closing stages and he’s certainly a name we’ll be hearing more of.
At Sandown, the Karl Burke-trained Kylian ran out a supremely impressive winner of the Listed Dragon Stakes in what was a significant step forward from his previous three starts. While I wouldn’t dispute that he was the deserving winner, I do feel the winning margin was exaggerated by his jockey Ryan Moore making the wise decision to sit off the early pace and bide his time before striking for home. Kylian is certainly a talented colt but I’ll be opposing him on his next start.
Another to make an impressive debut was the Ollie Sangster-trained Per Contra, who travelled powerfully and ran out a convincing winner at Chepstow. He did drift drastically to his left though to end up against the far side rail and, while not an issue in itself, the fact that he appeared numb to Jamie Spencer’s significant efforts to straighten his course means I’ll be watching rather than backing him until I see improved compliance.
Cerulean Bay scores at Ayr
‘Star of the week’ is usually reserved for a debutant, but this time I think that CERULEAN BAY - who made it two wins from two starts at Ayr - is deserving of the accolade. He ran out a cosy-enough winner on what looked an above average contest for the track on paper and his tenacious attitude and a textbook low head carriage captured my attention.
In the early part of the season I often feel that the burden of a penalty can be negated by the winner’s previous racecourse experience, especially against a larger pool of rivals making their debuts early in the campaign. But at this point of the season I think winning under a penalty is an altogether harder proposition, with horses highly likely to have had more time in training even if they have yet to run on the track.
Cerulean Bay is not as flashy as a few previous ‘star of the week’ winners, but he’s made quite an impression on me and I fancy him to continue to surprise a few people.
July Festival fancies
The Boodles July Festival takes centre stage from Newmarket this week and a Group race for juveniles features on each of the three days. with a group contest for juveniles on each day. These re my views on the two-year-old races coming up from headquarters.
King Of Bahrain July Stakes
The Andrew Balding-trained Purosangue has been installed as early market favourite but I’d be keen to oppose him here. It’s undeniable that he was visually impressive when making a winning debut over five furlongs at Haydock, but the form isn’t working out as yet with both the second- and third-placed colts well beaten on their next starts. In a race of depth, I’m keen to look elsewhere.
As I’ve mentioned previously in this column, William Haggas wouldn’t train many debut two-year old winners and the chances are that such types from the yard are above average. LAKE FOREST was slowly into stride on debut at Haydock yet travelled comfortably into the race before lengthening away in smart style. He finished powerfully there and the stiff nature of the July Course looks sure to suit.
Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes (Sponsored by bet365)
Star Of Mystery sets a high bar and deserves to be a short-priced favourite after her emphatic course-and-distance success in the Listed Empress Fillies’ Stakes.
Yet I have a suspicion that the form is possibly not that watertight; the runner-up Cry Fiction was a narrow winner on debut and in a race that is yet to deliver any other winners, while to my eye Unbreak My Heart – third in the Newmarket race - failed to see out the six-furlong trip.
Star Of Mystery might well prove herself to be a star, but at odds-on I’m happy to be against her.
I felt SOPRANO shaped better than the bare result in the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot; she was slow to gather stride and additionally forfeited ground by having to track across to her right to get near to the action. She stayed on well at the death and, in a race where it paid to be drawn low, she did remarkably well to finish third from stall sixteen.
Ultimately I see her as a filly that will do her best work over a mile next season so this stiff six should suit her well, while this smaller field might allow her to get a more prominent position in the early stages. She can turn over the short-priced favourite.
bet365 Superlative Stakes
I’m pleased to see SON take his chance here.
He travelled effortlessly when winning at Newbury on his second start and he only needed minimal encouragement to stretch out to a comfortable win over the extended six-furlong trip. The form reads well with runner-up Soldier’s Gold winning next time while Hot Fuzz, who was five lengths behind in fourth, ran a taking race in the Chesham when only finishing a length and a half adrift in fifth.
Too Darn Hot is yet to catch fire as a sire but his Son can deliver a timely boost by capturing this prize.
