The Tout’s take on the July Cup
After last week’s triumph when we had the first three horses home in the correct order in The Eclipse at Sandown, we must not be too self congratulatory as racing has a habit of paying you back but it was a great way to launch our first column. As readers may have gathered we are attempting to cover all of the classic races and Group One events during the summer rather than just produce a straightforward weekly tipping column.
This week the focus of the turf on a busy Saturday is the Group One Darley July Cup on the July Course at Newmarket. There are two separate courses at “Headquarters” with The Rowley Mile in operation in the spring and autumn and The July Course providing perfect summer racing ground from June through to August. The track itself is again a straight nine furlongs with a stiff uphill finish that can catch some out if they haven’t saved enough in the tank for the end of the race.
We have two problems with this year’s renewal and therefore this week a cautious approach to the race with limited stakes is recommended. The problems are that the ground is fairly soft after two months of almost continual rain and this track is more suited to dry summer weather as it has a wonderful layer of springy turf and this year’s race does not really field a host of group class horses. The race should be the premier sprint in Europe over six furlongs but this year I do not think that the winner will merit that sort of status compared to previous winners who have gone on to stud.
I am going with two selections at a longer price and these are Dandy Boy available at around 12/1 and Mayson at 25/1 with the latter being my main selection for each way value. As I said last week, bet small at big odds and may the force be with you.
THE TOUT