Our form expert tipped 15/2 winner Plage De Havre in the Old Newton Cup in his last Verdict column and he has three tips for day one of the July Festival.
The Verdict: Thursday July 10
1pt win Hallasan in 3.00 Newmarket at 10/1 (William Hill, 9/1 General)
1pt e.w Prince Of India in 3.00 Newmarket at 10/1 (bet365, BoyleSports, Coral 1/5 1,2,3,4,5)
1pt win El Cordobes in 3.35 Newmarket at 7/1 (General)
Buick to star on day one
It could be a landmark day for William Buick on day one of the Debenhams July Festival at Newmarket as he bids to seal his 2000th winner in Britain and he could get it up as early as the second race as Maximized goes for July Stakes glory.
He’s strongly fancied and after his Epsom form was well advertised at Royal Ascot he could be tough to beat, with the Charlie Appleby horses always well primed for this meeting.
With that in mind I find his EL CORDOBES a really interesting runner in the feature Group 2 Princess Of Wales’s Stakes and at 7/1 he’s worth taking a chance on.
On the face of things he’s up against it based on official ratings but this race has been a graveyard for fancied horses with Hamish (11/10), Adayar (1/3), Al Aasy (1/2), Enbihaar (9/4), Masar (5/6), Mirage Dancer (2/1) and Frontiersman (5/4) all beaten in it within the last 10 years.
Ghostwriter might go off around 13/8 and he could easily add his name to that list given he’s become a very hard horse to win with having not got his nose in front since his two-year-old days.
If you take him out of the equation this looks an open race and El Cordobes strikes me as your typical Newmarket horse who could cause an upset from the front end.
Indeed, his win over a mile and a half in handicap company on the Rowley Mile course in May could be a crucial piece of form, as he tanked his way through that event from a prominent pitch, giving weight and a sound beating to French Master who has subsequently won handicaps at Goodwood and Royal Ascot.
El Cordobes hasn’t kicked on from that, but he didn’t run badly when proving a sitting duck in the Aston Park at Newbury and then 1m6f didn’t look his trip behind Al Qareem and Absurde at York last time.
He should be much more at home over 1m4f back at Newmarket and if Buick gets him rolling early he could be tough to reel in.
The Verdict: Back EL CORDOBES in the 3.35 Newmarket
Hall lotta love for India
The Bet Boost At bet365 Handicap over six furlongs is the best betting race on the card and it is traditionally one of the best three-year-old handicap sprints we’ll see all season.
Usually the winner goes on to bigger and better things and with that in mind I want to be with Appleby, Buick and Godolphin again as they team up with HALLASAN.
Much has been made of Notable Speech dropping back to sprinting in the July Cup but it shouldn’t go unnoticed that Hallasan joined his more illustrious stablemate in the Group 1 Haydock Sprint Cup entries this week ahead of this handicap assignment.
That’s a clear indication that Appleby thinks there is mileage in his mark of 98 on his handicap bow and dropping back to a six furlongs where he’ll get an end-to-end gallop will likely suit him very well.
I thought he ran quite well behind Formal in Listed company at Epsom last time considering he was keen early, while his wins over Camille Pissarro at Doncaster and Al Qudra in Meydan point to him being potentially very well treated.
He should go well but in a deep race I also want to back Marco Botti’s PRINCE OF INDIA each-way.
Likely favourite Hucklesbrook is another one who could end up being better than a handicapper, but Prince Of India gets a 12lb pull at the weights with him for being beaten a length at Leicester and it looks like he’s been saved for this since.
That Leicester race could hardly have worked out any better with loads coming out and winning subsequently, including Hucklesbrook himself who landed the Macmillan charity sprint at York in fine style.
He’s up 8lb for that Knavesmire success, but Botti has kept Prince Of India’s powder dry and the local trainer has a fine record in July Course handicaps.
The Verdict: Back HALLASAN and PRINCE OF INDIA in the 3.00 Newmarket
Preview posted at 1600 BST on 09/07/25
Click here for full Ben Linfoot tipping record
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