Brazen Beau takes aim at July Cup

The Australian star Brazen Beau may yet claim a lucrative sprint during his summer trip to England.

On June 20, Brazen Beau was second in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot, finishing a half-length behind the American-based winner Undrafted. Saturday at Newmarket, Brazen Beau is likely to be favored in the $768,000 July Cup at six furlongs.

Brazen Beau won two Group 1 sprints in Australia, one last November and one in March, before being sent to England. Trained by Chris Waller, Brazen Beau will be ridden for the first time by top English jockey James Doyle, who replaces the Australia-based Craig Williams.

Brazen Beau, 4, is part of a field of 15 in the Group 1 July Cup, which is run on a straight course. He is one of 12 runners in the field who started at the Royal Ascot meeting in June. The most prominent of those is Muhaarar, who won the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup at six furlongs for 3-year-olds. Muhaarar is trained by Charles Hills.

The July Cup will be Muhaarar’s first start against older horses. Paul Hanagan has the mount, replacing Dane O’Neill, who will ride Muthmir, the third-place finisher in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 16.
The July Cup is the leading race on the third and final day of the Newmarket July meeting.

On Thursday’s first day, Big Orange (25-1) led throughout the Group 2 Princess of Wales’s Stakes at 1 1/2 miles, scoring an upset win as the longest shot in a field of eight.

Ridden by Jamie Spencer, Big Orange won the $153,720 race by a half-length over 4-1 Second Step. Hillstar, the winner of the Grade 1 Canadian International Stakes at Woodbine last October, finished fifth, one position in front of Mahsoob, the 5-2 favorite who was beaten for the first time in his five-race career.

Big Orange, a 4-year-old gelding by Duke of Marmalade trained by Michael Bell for Bill Gredley, won minor stakes at Chester and Ascot in 2014.