The July Cup is set to remain in its present slot on racing’s busiest Saturday for at least one more year, despite efforts to alleviate the logjam of fixtures on that day which has long been a controversial subject. The issue which will prevent the fixture from being moved back to midweek is TV coverage, as Channel 4 have now made it clear that it is unwilling to add to its existing commitments to racing for 2016.
Newmarket and the Jockey Club, which runs the course, indicated early this year that they were willing to consider moving the three-day Moet & Chandon July Festival from the Thursday to Saturday slot on which it will take place this week back to a Wednesday to Friday slot. The Saturday would still be busy but the remaining high-profile fixtures at Ascot, York and Chester would become more manageable for trainers and jockeys.
But Jockey Club officials feel that maintaining TV coverage of all three days of the Festival is an essential precondition for a move. Channel 4 has now told Newmarket that, if the meeting ran Wednesday to Friday, it would only screen the last two days. The broadcaster feels that, in the context of a busy sporting month, it would not be viable to add a midweek date to the 90 days on which it already shows racing each year.
In making that decision, Channel 4 executives were aware that next year’s July Festival will once more clash with Wimbledon. It is possible that the broadcaster may take a different view for 2017 but such discussions are a long way off, not least because the TV rights to show racing have not yet been allocated beyond next year.
If Newmarket were to lose a day’s TV coverage, that would not only make sponsorship of the affected races less attractive, but it would also reduce the track’s share of income from the levy on bookmakers’ profits. Officials at the track feel they have made an honest effort to help the sport find a solution to the issue of Super Saturday but there is also resentment that, having been urged to shift the July Cup to a Saturday under racing’s previous weekend-centric policy, they are now being told to move it back at a time when the fixture is becoming more successful.
Amy Starkey, the Jockey Club’s regional director, said ticket sales for this Saturday are running 2,500 ahead of the same stage last year, while hospitality has sold out for the first time since the July Cup was moved to the weekend. “Newmarket remains open to moving the Darley July Cup as long as the solution is considered to be in the best interests of British racing,” Starkey said. “What we do know is that moving from the Saturday slot agreed in 2010 as part of British racing’s premierisation project will be financially negative and we want to ensure there isn’t a knock-on impact to the sport.”
Speaking earlier by the Warren Hill gallops, John Gosden said he will run Mahsoob on day one of the Festival, contrary to recent suggestions that the horse would go straight to Ascot’s King George later this month. “Mahsoob is a very robust horse and he does take quite a lot of work,” the trainer said. “So he probably could do with some more experience of racing.”
If Mahsoob pleases Gosden in Thursday’s Princess of Wales’s Stakes, he could yet line up in the King George, for which he is a 10-1 shot. He also expects to run Golden Horn and Eagle Top in the Ascot race.
Thursday’s card at Newmarket opens with the Bahrain Trophy, in which Gosden expects to run Mr Singh, who he described as the stable’s main candidate for the final Classic of the year. “If he runs well there, we’ll put him away until the St Leger, which is what we did with a horse called Masked Marvel. He’s still a growing horse but he ran great at Ascot the other day. I’m happy with him.”
Gosden expects to have Shalaa, with Frankie Dettori aboard, in Thursday’s July Stakes. The trainer said he was encouraged by the fact that Richard Hughes, rider of the third horse in the race won by Shalaa last month, described it as the best maiden he had ridden in before Royal Ascot.
Beyond that, Gosden’s involvement in the July Festival might not be extensive but he is still able to savour the best start to a season he has ever enjoyed, even if things did not seem especially promising at the start of the year. “I remember, I’d come flying off my skis, trying to outpace my sons, and done my pelvis, three cracks in the pelvis and the knee a bit dodgy.
“So I was at home on 11 January, the first day at Chelmsford City, and Rachel went down there and dear Matt Chapman came bounding up. He said: ’Well, you’re in trouble, what are you going to do this year? You’ve lost your jockey, Kingman’s retired, Taghrooda’s retired, The Fugue’s retired, you’re in trouble this year!’
“Well, luckily a couple came through. So you never know, in this game. You’re lucky if you have two years running in a stable like ours when you get horses of that quality. Next year could be a quiet year, that’s just the way it is. But to get three-year-olds like Kingman, Taghrooda, Jack Hobbs, Star Of Seville and Golden Horn, two seasons running, is pretty well unheard of for us. We get some very nice horses from fabulous owners but it’s more good fortune and enjoy it while it lasts.”
Gosden would not be drawn on plans for Golden Horn, the winner of Saturday’s Eclipse, beyond confirming that the King George was likely to be next. However, he did say that soft ground ought not to be a problem for the colt, which means his options should not be restricted in the autumn.
Another Newmarket trainer, Roger Varian, was not having such a fun day. He revealed that his St Leger winner from last year, Kingston Hill, has suffered a new injury to his left fore that may prevent him from returning to the track this year.
