2019 Moet & Chandon July Festival Newmarket – 11-13 July 2019 Moet & Chandon July Festival Newmarket FULL RUNNING ORDER (all times GMT+1) Thursday 11 July Welcome to the 2019 Moet & Chandon 1.50pm Bahrain Trophy Stakes (Group 3) (2800m) July Festival Newmarket 2.25pm Tattersalls July Stakes (Group 2) (1200m) 3.00pm bet365 Handicap (1200m) 3.35pm Princess Of Wales’s Tattersalls Stakes (Group 2) (2400m) Newmarket’s picturesque July course plays host to its flagship 4.05pm British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Fillies’ Stakes (1200m) fixture of the year, with the three-day July Festival Meeting featuring 4.40pm Edmondson Hall Solicitors Sir Henry Cecil Stakes a mix of Group races, top-class handicaps and fascinating maidens. (Listed) (1600m) 5.10pm John Deere & Ben Burgess Handicap (1600m) Three Group races on the opening day of the action set the tone in terms of the quality on show, with the feature event the Tattersalls July Friday 12 July Stakes, a 1200m event for two-year-old colts and geldings. Last year’s 1.50pm bet365 Handicap (2000m) winner Advertise followed up his success in the Phoenix Stakes and 2.25pm Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes (Fillies’ Group 2) (1200m) also landed the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot just last month. 3.00pm bet365 Trophy (Heritage Handicap) (2800m) The Princess of Wales’s Tattersalls Stakes, a Group 2 over 2400m, is 3.35pm Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes (Group 1) (1600m) among the supporting events. 4.10pm Weatherbys British EBF Maiden Stakes (1400m) 4.45pm Porsche Centre Cambridge Handicap (1400m) Friday sees the fillies and mares take centre stage with the Tattersalls 5.20pm JFD Handicap (1000m) Falmouth Stakes now firmly established as a top-class Group 1 event. Earlier in the afternoon, the two-year-old fillies line up for the Duchess Saturday 13 July of Cambridge Stakes (Group 2, 1200m). 1.50pm Rossdales British EBF Maiden Fillies’ Stakes (1400m) 2.20pm bet365 Mile Handicap (1600m) The feature of the week, the Darley July Cup, takes place on Saturday. 2.55pm bet365 Superlative Stakes (Group 2) (1400m) The 1200m Group 1 event is one of the most significant races of its 4.05pm Bedford Lodge Hotel & Spa British EBF Fillies’ Handicap type in Europe and has a roll of honour that reads like a Who’s Who of (1400m) European sprinting. 4.40pm Darley July Cup Stakes (Group 1) (1200m) 5.15pm Maritime Cargo Handicap (2400m) The betting for this year’s renewal is headed by the aforementioned Advertise, while the valuable contest is given an international flavour by Lim’s Cruiser, dual winner of Singapore’s top sprint, the Lion City Cup. July Festival meeting Top trainers Over the past five years, CHARLIE APPLEBY and RICHARD HANNON have proved the most successful trainers at the meeting with 43 winners from 169 runners and 42 winners from 327 runners respectively. July Festival meeting Top jockeys JAMES DOYLE (52 winners from 217 rides) and HARRY BENTLEY (30 winners from 147 rides) are the riders who have done best at the fixture over the past five seasons. 1 Thursday 11 July Tattersalls July Stakes RACE IN FOCUS Rest of the action The Mark Johnston-trained Visinari appears the potential star Last year’s Derby hero Masar will face five rivals in the Princess of attraction in this Group 2 contest. Wales’s Tattersalls Stakes over 2400m. The New Approach colt became the first horse to carry the royal blue silks of Godolphin to victory in the The son of Dark Angel created a huge impression when making a premier Classic at Epsom last season, but a leg injury kept him off the successful racecourse debut over the same course and distance last track for the remainder of the campaign. month and will be well fancied to follow up, with Frankie Dettori taking over in the saddle from Ryan Moore. However, Charlie Appleby’s charge made his long-awaited return to action in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot last month and was far The form standard is arguably set by Archie Watson’s GUILDSMAN, from disgraced in finishing fifth. And his trainer is confident that the beaten just three-quarters of a length into third in the Coventry Stakes colt has made good progress since that belated return. on his latest appearance. O’Brien’s pair of KING NEPTUNE and ROYAL LYTHAM, Saeed bin Suroor’s Windsor Castle runner-up PLATINUM Masar is likely to be sent off the favourite to rediscover the winning trail STAR and Karl Burke’s Carlisle scorer CLASSY MOON are also obvious almost three weeks later - despite having a shade over three lengths to contenders. find with Sir Michael Stoute’s Hardwicke Stakes third Mirage Dancer. Mark Johnston saddles Baghdad - a narrow winner of the Duke of THE KEY STATS Edinburgh Stakes at the Royal meeting - as well as Communique. Six of the last 11 winners have been drawn closest to the far rail in stalls one, two or three. This may have enabled them to get Charlie Appleby on Masar more cover in the early stages of the contest. “Masar has enjoyed a faultless preparation since his run in the Hardwicke Stakes. We are confident that he is in as good a condition This has not been a good race for Aidan O’Brien, who has as we have ever had him and is the one they have to beat. saddled a number of leading fancies but has not had a winner since 2005. He saddles King Neptune this year. “The improvement that we hope we have seen since then means that we are confident that he can make up the three lengths on Mirage Dancer – provided Sir Michael’s horse hasn’t improved by another three lengths in the meantime!” 2 Friday 12 July Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes RACE IN FOCUS Rest of the action Newmarket trainer William Haggas looks to have strong claims Royal Ascot winners Raffle Prize and Daahyeh feature among a field of of landing this Group 1 prize for the first time in his distinguished seven talented juvenile fillies for the Group Two Duchess of Cambridge career, with his pair of representatives, Beshaayir and One Master, Stakes. dominating the line-up for Friday’s feature. The Mark Johnston-trained Raffle Prize will bid to follow-up her victory ONE MASTER is already a winner at the highest level, having lifted the in the Queen Mary Stakes while Daahyeh, from the Varian stable, will Prix de la Foret at Longchamp in October and she was only beaten attempt to take her 100 per cent record to three after landing the a length when an excellent third in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Albany Stakes. Ascot on her most recent start. Ken Condon’s Celtic Beauty, who was beaten a length and a half by BESHAAYIR steps up to the top level on the back of a Group Two Daahyeh that day, is the only Irish-trained hopeful. success at The Curragh on her seasonal debut and is the mount of Frankie Dettori. Saeed bin Suroor’s Final Song, third in the Queen Mary, is one of two Godolphin runners along with the Charlie Appleby-trained Divine I CAN FLY, beaten a length and a half by that filly in the Lanwades Stud Spirit. Stakes, is Aidan O’Brien’s sole representative in a contest which he took with Alice Springs in 2016 and Roly Poly the following year. Roger Varian is responsible for the two three-year-olds in the line-up, 1000 Guineas third QABALA and MOT JUSTE. VERACIOUS, trained by Sir Michael Stoute, completes the sextet. THE KEY STATS William Haggas on One Master One Master will have to buck some strong trends if she is to take “Whether she went too early at Royal Ascot, which personally I think this – no horse older than four has won the race since as far is harsh, or whether she just didn’t quite get home I don’t know, but back as German challenger Proudwings in 2001. she’s a pretty decent filly. Eleven of the last 12 winners of this race had already proven “There aren’t that many Group 1 opportunities over 1400m, and I themselves and earned a BHA rating of 110 or more – only One think she’s more effective at 1600m than 1200m, so that’s why we Master and I Can Fly fit that bill this year. are going for the Falmouth.” 3 Saturday 13 July Darley July Cup RACE IN FOCUS Rest of the action Royal Ascot winner Advertise is among 15 confirmations for Europe’s The historic Bet365 Bunbury Cup over 1400m is frequently a puzzler for premier 1200m sprinting contest, the Darley July Cup at Newmarket. punters, as one of the most competitive handicap contests of the year. The race is named in honour of Sir Charles Bunbury (1740–1821), who Martyn Meade’s stable star bounced back from an underwhelming run in served as the Senior Steward of the Jockey Club and introduced both the 2000 Guineas to win the Commonwealth Cup last month in fine style of the Classics held at Newmarket. Diamond Jubilee Stakes runner-up DREAM OF DREAMS is likely to be Burnt Sugar landed the contest on the same card 12 months ago and his chief market rival, Sir Michael Stoute’s five-year-old having taken is among a huge entry of horses competing for the first-prize purse of his form to a new level this season. He came within a head of denying more than £74,000.