Star Sprinters Possible For Darley July Cup at Newmarket
Caravaggio and Harry Angel are on course for an eagerly-awaited rematch in the Darley July Cup at Newmarket. A total of 23 horses remain in the Group One contest, including The Tin Man, Tasleet and Limato, the first three home in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes.
But it is the classy three-year-olds who already head the betting, with Aidan O'Brien confirming the July Cup will be taken in before Caravaggio eventually travels to Australia in October for the inaugural Everest Stakes, the richest race in the world on turf.
"The plan at the moment is we are thinking of the July Cup and then we will see after that," O'Brien told At The Races. "The lads (John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith) have an eye very much on the Everest in Australia if everything goes well at that time of the year. It would be unbelievable so I suppose we'll just take one race at a time at the moment, but it would be very exciting."
Clive Cox, who has resisted the urge to step up to six furlongs with Profitable and Priceless, is looking forward to another crack at the Commonwealth Cup winner. "I am delighted with the way Harry Angel has come out of his Royal Ascot run and at this stage I am looking very positively towards sending him to the July Cup," said Cox. "The Commonwealth Cup was a very special race, I am sure that the first three are all top-class Group One horses, and I have no concerns with taking on Caravaggio again. However, Harry Angel only ran last week so we will be keeping a close eye on him in the next few days before making any firm plans. He's never run at Newmarket before but I don't see any reason why he wouldn't cope with the demands of the July Course as he's a very well-balanced colt. The Darley July Cup is bang up there as one of the world's iconic sprint races, even more so since the inception of the Commonwealth Cup as it brings together the older and younger generations of sprinters for the first time."