Frederick Engels steps up off big win for Newmarket's July Stakes

Frederick Engels, the winner of the 24-runner Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 14, makes his group stakes debut against just seven rivals in Thursday’s Group 2 July Stakes for 2-year-old colts and geldings at Newmarket, England.

The July Stakes, worth approximately $96,600, is one of two Group 2 races on Thursday’s card, the first of the three-day July meeting at Newmarket that includes Friday’s Group 1 Falmouth Stakes for female milers and Saturday’s Group 1 July Cup for sprinters.

Frederick Engels has won 2 of 4 starts for trainer David Brown, beginning his career with second-place finishes in maiden races before winning a conditions race at Musselburgh, near Edinburgh, Scotland, on June 4.

In the Windsor Castle over a straightaway five furlongs, Frederick Engels closed from midfield to win by 2 1/4 lengths.

In the six-furlong July Stakes, Frederick Engels faces four others who ran at Royal Ascot – Roman Soldier and North Star Boy, who were second and seventh in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes; and Bannock and Sans Loi, who were sixth and 13th in the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes. Sans Loi has since returned to win a maiden race at Pontefract in northern England on June 27.

Roman Soldier, trained by Jeremy Noseda, is considered the most significant threat to Frederick Engels. Roman Soldier is listed at 20-1 in the future book for the 2012 English 2000 Guineas.

Redwood, the winner of the Grade 1 Northern Dancer Stakes at Woodbine last September, is expected to be favored in the Group 2 Princess of Wales’s Stakes on Thursday.

Trained by Barry Hills for Juddmonte Farms, Redwood, 5, is part of a field of 10 that includes Campanologist, the winner of two Group 1 races in Germany last year; and the 6-year-old mare Crystal Capella, a four-time stakes winner.

The Princess of Wales’s Stakes, worth approximately $128,800, is run over 1 1/2 miles. Redwood has not started since finishing second to Rewilding in the $5 million Dubai Sheema Classic in the Middle East in late March. Redwood was second in the 2010 Princess of Wales’s Stakes.