Horses with proven course form ahead of July Festival

Giavellotto – Princess of Wales’s Stakes

The form has whiskers on it now but Marco Botti’s Giavellotto won a three-year-old handicap on the July Course from a mark of 97 before being pitched into the 2022 St Leger, where he finished a creditable third to Eldar Eldarov.

The now five-year-old chestnut has gone on to prove himself one of the best stayers in Britain and was last seen landing the Yorkshire Cup for the second year in succession back in May.

Somewhat bizarrely, he’s never raced over 12 furlongs in his life and whether he’s got the natural speed for a drop back to the mile and a half trip on Thursday is the big question. What isn’t in doubt is that he can match all of his potential rivals in pure class terms.

Ombudsman – Sir Henry Cecil Stakes

Bought out of the Tattersalls October Book 2 sale for 340,000 guineas in 2022, trainers John and Thady Gosden have had to be patient with Ombudsman but the son of Night Of Thunder’s debut run was worth the wait here last month.

He was sent off a largely unconsidered 18/1 chance in a race containing two other promising types in the royal blue of Godolphin (both trained by Charlie Appleby) but came home best from off the pace to win going away in the hands of Benoit De La Sayette.

He should be a bit sharper this time around and it will be fascinating if he’s declared for the Listed Sir Henry Cecil Stakes over the same course and distance on just his second start.

Final Watch – National Stud Handicap

William Stone’s Final Watch has a couple of options at this week’s principal meeting and last got his head in front in the seven-furlong handicap on Falmouth day here last summer.

Rated 86 at the time, he’s not seriously threatened in a handful of subsequent starts but has come down to 83 as a result and is clearly on the right side of the assessor again.

Based on his two runs on the Rowley Mile so far this year, Final Watch has looked to be in need of a step up in trip so don’t be surprised to see him line up in Thursday’s contest over a mile, rather than wait for the same Friday race he won 12 months ago.

True Wisdom – bet365 Handicap

Friday’s opening 10-furlong handicap for three-year-olds was won seven times by Mark Johnston, and his son Charlie picked up the baton with aplomb when saddling 20/1 shot Killybegs Warrior to win the race last year.

The Middleham stable has two possible runners this time including course winner True Wisdom, who has to bounce back from a disappointing effort when sent off favourite upped to a mile and a half at Goodwood last time out.

The daughter of Le Havre had made an encouraging seasonal reappearance when second to subsequent Royal Ascot winner Going The Distance at Kempton (1m3f) back in April and, based on her July Course novice win over the now 107-rated Bellum Justum, the filly’s current official rating of 83 looks manageable to say the least.

Celandine – Duchess of Cambridge Stakes

The past two Duchess of Cambridge winners had won on the Rowley Mile earlier in the season but Celandine can arguably go one better having been successful on this track late last month.

That all-the-way victory backed up her Windsor novice win and, on the face of it, represented a significant amount of improvement.

Timeform have given her a rating of 99p which suggests we’ve yet to see the best of this daughter of Kingman, and it was hard not to be impressed with her response when tackled in Listed company last time.

Above – National Stud Handicap

Robert Cowell dropped his then-new recruit Above back to five furlongs for the first time in his life to win over course and distance off a mark of 80 last August, and it’s interesting to see the horse has had his last four starts over six ahead of this week’s assignment.

Having been eased in the weights to 75, the seven-year-old showed a lot more of his typical spark when third at Yarmouth late last month and he looks decidedly dangerous off the same perch this week.

Ancient Truth – Superlative Stakes

Charlie Appleby can typically be relied upon to come good in a big way with his late-maturing two-year-olds in the second half of the season and Ancient Truth looks set to tackle the Group 2 bet365 Superlative Stakes on Saturday.

He relished the step up to this seven-furlong trip when winning here last month, maintaining his unbeaten record having made a fine start over six on the Rowley Mile towards the end of May.

Ancient Wisdom won the same June novice at this course prior to scoring at the highest level in the autumn (Futurity Trophy) and this imposing son of Dubawi clearly has a lot going for him.

Jasour – July Cup

Inisherin stands out on his Commonwealth Cup win but he’s priced up accordingly and I refuse to believe this year’s My Pension Expert July Cup is a one-horse race.

Fellow three-year-olds Vandeek and River Tiber could just click into gear for the first time this year and can be considered major threats on their best two-year-old form, while Jasour shouldn’t be overlooked either and his July Stakes win here as a juvenile is worth revisiting.

He absolutely relished the strong pace and fast ground that day and proved he’s trained on with a commanding win at Ascot back in May. His Royal Ascot run was another step forward on the bare figures and while he’s got two and a half lengths to make up on the winner, it would be foolish to think he’s now peaked, especially considering trainer Clive Cox’s remarkable record with developing sprinters.

Wonder Kid – Trust A Trader Handicap

Hugo Palmer’s Wonder Kid is another returning course and distance winner this Saturday.

He had three relatively quiet qualifying runs towards the end of last year, including two on the all-weather, but has been transformed by a winter gelding operation by the looks of things and easily followed up his comeback Newbury success when defying a 6lb penalty to justify odds-on favouritism here last month.

He’s effectively running off an 8lb higher mark at the weekend but is bred to be fairly classy (made 125,000 guineas as a yearling) and could still be several steps ahead of the assessor.

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