Baaeed, Snow Lantern and Sandrine were three of the stars at the July Festival

Five stars of the July Festival at Newmarket including Snow Lantern and Baaeed

By Ben Linfoot

Horse Racing

Sun July 11, 2021 · 4y ago

Ben Linfoot nominates his five stars of the Moët and Chandon July Festival at Newmarket with likely future targets discussed.

🌟 BAAEED - G1 horse in the making

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Baaeed was really impressive at Newmarket

BAAEED added his name to the list of top-class horses William Haggas has trained by Sea The Stars with an outstanding victory in the Listed Edmondson Hall Solicitors Sir Henry Cecil Stakes on Thursday.

Sea Of Class, Mutakayyef, Al Aasy, Storm The Stars and Raheen House are famous Sea The Stars progeny Haggas has had through his hands and his overall record with the sire’s offspring now stands at 58 wins from 220 runners at 26.4%.

Baaeed was so impressive he could even end up being the best of the lot, his easy four-length victory over Maximal reading well when you consider Sir Michael Stoute’s horse was only beaten a length further by Poetic Flare in the St James’s Palace Stakes.

A clash with Jim Bolger’s star miler could be on the agenda before the end of the season, with a stepping stone like the Group Two Celebration Mile at Goodwood in August mooted as a possible next step.

🌟 SANDRINE - A most versatile filly

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Sandrine backed up her Royal Ascot win in style

SANDRINE has shown great versatility already in her brief career and looks a standout candidate for Group One honours before the season’s end following her victory in the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes.

Andrew Balding’s Bobby's Kitten filly has now won on the all-weather at Kempton, at Royal Ascot in heavy ground in the Albany and this most recent success on much faster conditions which she looked right at home on.

Balding says he doesn’t want to travel abroad with her yet so she could have a break now before the Group One Cheveley Park back on the Rowley Mile course at Newmarket in September, although he will have the option of the Group Two Sky Bet Lowther Stakes at York next month if she’s screaming for a run.

She’s got loads of pace, loads of ability and could be even better than she’s shown so far – she idled in front here when already having the race sewn up and taking on the best juvenile fillies around in a month or two could see her raise her level once again.

🌟 SIR RON PRIESTLEY - Flying the family flag

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Sir Ron Priestley is cheered in on the July Course

It was heart-breaking to hear Mark Johnston rule his stable star Subjectivist out of the rest of the season and hint at possible retirement following a tendon injury that may or may not have been picked up during his storming Ascot Gold Cup success.

The Middleham trainer announced the news in the aftermath of the Princess Of Wales’s Stakes that he had just won with Subjectivist’s half-brother SIR RON PRIESTLEY, who isn’t far off the ability of his slightly more famous sibling on this evidence.

Indeed, Johnston mulled supplementing him for the Goodwood Cup as a replacement for Subjectivist as he was thinking of targets out loud and, while he will have to prove he stays, he certainly deserves a crack at a top-level contest following this career-best effort.

He gave 3lb and a beating to the 120-rated Al Aasy and while that rival was below form, possibly due to the fast ground or because of the tempo Sir Ron Priestley set (or more likely a bit of both), it was certainly no mean feat.

The only time he has attempted a Group One he was second to Logician in the 2019 St Leger, but he deserves another go at the elite level now with plenty of options coming up at home and abroad in the second half of the campaign.

🌟 SNOW LANTERN - Mile a winning formula

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Snow Lantern (left) comes through to win a dramatic Falmouth Stakes

“What a finish - a race for the ages - and Snow Lantern got there, Mother Earth, Alcohol Free, Lady Bowthorpe, Primo Bacio, a race we’ll remember for years to come,” so said John Hunt in commentary and his initial assessment looks bang on the money.

Not only was this a tremendous finish but the race had serious depth and in SNOW LANTERN it crowned a worthy winner, who was landing redemption for her mother, Sky Lantern, who was carried across the track by Elusive Kate when second in the same contest eight years ago.

Sky Lantern went and won the Group One Sun Chariot later in the season and that looks an achievable target for her daughter, with the temptation to step her up to 10 furlongs surely diluted by a) this win and b) the likelihood she’ll race too freely over further.

She’s right on the edge over a mile, but a strong gallop at this trip will likely bring out the very best in her and if she gets that scenario against her own sex she could be tough to beat.

Lady Bowthorpe was the slightly unlucky horse in the race and flew home for a close fourth, but she had plenty of time in the clear and I have my doubts over whether she would reverse the form with the winner on another day.

🌟 STARMAN - A star is born in the feature

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Tom Marquand celebrates as Starman wins the Darley July Cup

The best was saved for (almost) the last, the meeting's penultimate race being the feature Darley July Cup in what was a stellar renewal.

STARMAN came out on top as he proved himself the best of a very good bunch on just his sixth career start, Tom Marquand steering him through traffic on the stands' side before unleashing his wicked turn of foot when he hit the rising ground.

A superb field was put to bed thanks to his class late on and, given his lightly-raced profile, there is the possibility of even more to come from the son of Dutch Art.

Staying at six looks the right call with him - he's not an obvious one to drop to the five in the Nunthorpe by any means - and if he gets his ground he could be tough to beat for the foreseeable future on this evidence.