It has been almost two years since the Newmarket handler secured her last Group One success with the now retired Saffron Beach, back in August 2022 in the Prix Rothschild at Deauville, but she is optimistic the son of Gleneagles can help fire her back into the big time.
This season has seen Mill Stream confirm himself among the best older sprinters in Britain after winning the Group Two Duke Of York Clipper Stakes at York before finishing third on his return to Group One company in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Although the four-year-old is yet to strike gold at the top level, Chapple-Hyam is optimistic he can put that right in the £600,000 six furlong Group One contest after watching her stable star being put through his paces in a five and a half furlong workout under his work rider Ian Archer on a wet July Course.
Chapple-Hyam said: “He came out of the race at Ascot very well and there is only one July Cup. The forecast shows that there is rain, and he has shown he likes that with his Listed and Group Three win in Deauville last year. He has always done well with three weeks between races so there is no reason not to have a go.
“I think this will suit him better than the Ascot race as it won’t be firm, and he likes give in the ground. He is allowed, as he has a Group One entry, to come and work on the July Course so you utilise those facilities that are here, but he has never been a flashy worker.
“He just gets his head in front, as you saw at York, and that is his style of galloping. You can gallop him with a 110 rated horse or 50 rated horse and it will be the same as that is him and his way of doing things.”
Mill Stream has filled the runner’s up spot on his two previous starts at the July Course, however Chapple-Hyam believes both those runs, and his racecourse gallop, tick another significant box in his favour.
She added: “He has seen this track twice before this as he saw it as a two year old, and last year. He has now seen it in a gallop as well and he handles the track so there is no problem there. When he was second here last year he was giving a lot of weight away and as a two year old he was getting educated.
“It was a good run at Ascot. He wasn’t beaten far back in third in a Group One and if he gets a bit more luck in running here going two miles down the road from his stables then that will be great.”
Does quick turnaround from Ascot suit older horses?
It will be the first time this season that Mill Stream has clashed with the leading three year-old sprinters, which include ante-post favourite for the race and Commonwealth Cup hero Inisherin. But Chapple-Hyam expects Mill Stream to handle the swift gap between races better than his younger rivals.
She added: “It is harder for them as three year olds with the three week turnaround than it is for an older horse. I was in that position last year when he was the youngster taking on the professionals, now I feel I’m with the professional and they have got to take me on.
“I definitely think he has taken a step forward this season and finishing third at Ascot was his best run to date. It would be a timely fit if we could get another Group One here.”
Among those braving the elements on the July Course was Mill Steam’s passionate owner and former trainer Peter Harris. And while happy enough with what he saw on Saturday morning, Harris is hopeful his star will progress again with conditions set to be more to his liking next weekend.
Harris said: “He didn’t displease me, but then he is not a flashy workhorse. He knows what he is doing, and he just does enough, but he is like that in a race too. He has stepped forward this season, but he has been racing on ground that is not suitable for him, whereas this ground is more suitable.
“I would be happy for the rain to keep falling this week and in fact I’ll pay to have it if you like. I feel the going will be much more in our favour this time and that would be our main hope in thinking that we might do better.”
The July Cup was one of the few Group One races that escaped the clutches of the late, great, Sir Henry Cecil.
However, Harris has remembered some fond words the master of Warren Place ushered to him back in the day when it comes to assessing the form book of the rivals standing in between Mill Stream and his breakthrough Group One.
Harris said: “I don’t really pay much attention to the form. I knew Sir Henry Cecil quite well and once when I was getting a lot of seconds I said to him how long do you spend on the form book.
“He said I spend an hour, or an hour and a half. I thought he was going to say a day. I thought if he doesn’t need to bother then why do I!
“Mill Stream has been placed in a Group One, but not won one, but that would top it all if he could get a Group One.”
