Who made an impact in the sprint division following busy July Cup weekend?

Hong Kong’s extraordinarily talented Ka Ying Rising aside, the top speed horses seem to just take it in turns at present and this weekend it was Comanche Brave who put his best foot forward to score under Billy Loughnane in Newmarket's Group 1 Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai July Cup Stakes.

He actually bumped into Ka Ying Rising when beaten six lengths by David Hayes' flying machine in Sha Tin’s Chairman’s Sprint Prize in April, but merely taking him there was a bit of a statement of intent from trainer Donnacha O’Brien and he’d duly won the G2 Greenlands back on home soil prior to Royal Ascot where his troubled passage en route to finishing seventh was perhaps a little overlooked on the day.

What happens next is the obvious question but I find it hard to believe that he’s nailed on to follow up in the Betfair Sprint Cup (September 5) or the Champions Sprint back at Ascot in mid-October, seeing as autumn ground wouldn’t necessarily be his thing.

WATCH: Comanche Brave beats Venetian Sun, Satono Reve and the eyecatching Coppull

He hasn’t looked the happiest on softer going in the past and skipped an Irish engagement due to rain so perhaps he’ll be back on the plane before long, with a Breeders’ Cup bid at Keeneland arguably a more logical end-of-year target.

The closest I came to a bet in the race was Coppull after he drifted to 33/1 and bigger (went off 28s) and for a second or two I was rueing the decision to take a pass. In the end he possibly just hung his chances away and despite being hard pressed to say he’d have won if kept to a straight line, he's just the sort of project Clive Cox will relish getting stuck into – both this year and next.

Paddy Power and Sky Bet make him 25/1 for Haydock, with July Cup runner-up and fellow three-year-old Venetian Sun understandably topping the market at 5s although it’s worth noting Coppull missed the Sandy Lane there back in May due to unsuitably easy ground. Let’s hope Haydock is back in business by then anyway, with racing currently set to resume there early next month.

Couple of Nunthorpe clues?

The Coolmore City Of Troy Nunthorpe comes up before that and other than King Charles III winner Mission Central and the trailblazing Quinault, I don’t see any others from the July Cup potentially dropping back to the lightning-quick five furlongs at York.

That’s not to say we didn’t see a few possible Nunthorpe contenders elsewhere this weekend, though, and it seems like the Cox-trained four-year-old Redorange may be taking up his engagement next month having shown a smart turn of foot to come from near last to win Saturday’s John Smith’s City Walls Stakes.

It’s just a Listed race and the first seven home were split by just two lengths this year, but Winter Power pulled off the same double a handful of seasons ago and others have gone close including subsequent Nunthorpe third Starlust in 2024.

Redorange is around 33/1 and could certainly find a few more pounds of improvement, while Behike is 100/1 for the Nunthorpe but I thought he was more than a touch unlucky not to win Ascot’s five-furlong handicap on the same day (replay below) and George Scott’s horse would be a fascinating addition to the York mix if connections were feeling bold.

Third in Raaheeb’s maiden on his sole juvenile outing over seven furlongs last September, the son of Night Of Thunder has developed rapidly into a smart-looking colt over sprint trips, having won well twice on the all-weather at Lingfield (six furlongs) in the spring before being pitched into the King Charles III at the Royal meeting.

He wasn’t drawn too kindly in stall eight in hindsight and, having raced with the choke out, backed out of it as Mission Central swooped late but he’s clearly a fast learner and he travelled like the best horse in the race by some margin on Saturday.

Whether horse - or roder David Egan - didn’t quite spot the lunging Dubai Bling towards the other side of the course we’ll never know but the form book reads short-head defeat for the three-year-old, something I’m happy to mark up.

Maybe York is too ambitious at this stage but he’s owned by Al Shaqab along with Amo Racing so Goodwood’s King George Qatar Stakes later this month would look a lovely Group 2 stepping-stone if the horse continues to show the right signs. He’s an intriguing prospect and Scott might already be thinking about a journey to Dubai during the winter.

Up for the Cup at 25/1

Senorita Bonita certainly slots into the sprinting category too, despite joint-trainer Simon Crisford already expressing his thoughts over a 1000 Guineas preparation next term.

The Crisfords’ last Duchess Of Cambridge winner Arabian Dusk (2024) didn’t go on and failed to win another race but big breeze-up buy Senorita Bonita looks cut from a different cloth having seen off Albany winner Libertango with a sharp turn of foot.

On the face of it this result merely underlines the immense effort put up by Queen Mary winner Victorious and the double-figure prices about her for next year’s Guineas are surely going to become a thing of the past before the year is out.

Finally, and at a much lower level on Friday’s Ascot card, Amazing Journey bolted up in the style of a seriously progressive three-year-old. His form with Jazl from Leicester earlier in the year had already been franked at the July Festival on Thursday and, racing 2lb well-in after a short-head second at Epsom, he was back in the groove with a stylish victory.

He should receive a good jump up the ratings ladder which may see him creep into the Stewards’ Cup although it’s tempting to see precisely what the handicapper makes of it before relieving the bookies of their 25/1 quotes for Goodwood.

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