Newmarket July festival: four things to take out of the three-day meeting

1. Never underestimate O'Brien's ability to eke out improvement

Aidan O'Brien only sent a small team to Newmarket but he still plundered two top prizes as Ten Sovereigns landed the July Cup and and Royal Lytham took the July Stakes.

Both were initially underestimated in the betting on the back of underwhelming efforts at Royal Ascot, although Ten Sovereigns was the subject of serious market support in the 24 hours leading up to the July Cup, in which he recorded a career-best two-and-three-quarter-length victory under Ryan Moore.

O'Brien is a master of rejuvenating horses and conjuring improvement from those whose progress had seemingly levelled out. And that is exactly what we witnessed.

2. Big guns Hannon and Johnston dominate

There were 21 races at the July festival and Mark Johnston and Richard Hannon were each responsible for four victories, accounting for 38 per cent of the meeting's winners.

Communique (left): one of two Group 2 winners at the July meeting for Mark JohnstonCredit: Edward Whitaker

Unsurprisingly Hannon and Johnston are among the leading trainers behind Charlie Appleby at the track in the last five years, sitting in second and third place, with Johnston providing a healthy level-stakes profit of £24.38 to a £1 stake.

Communique and Raffle Prize's victories in Group 2 contests proved the highlight for Johnston, while Mystery Power scored in the same grade in the Superlative for Hannon on Saturday.

3. Up-and-down week for Godolphin

When you think of racing at Newmarket, the blue silks of Godolphin immediately spring to mind given the prowess of Charlie Appleby and Saeed Bin Suroor at their local track.

It was not all plain sailing for the colossal team over the three days, though, and after Platinum Star got chinned in the July Stakes and Masar thoroughly disappointed when last of six in the Princess Of Wales's Stakes on day one, you could have assumed it was not going to be their week.

Light And Dark: one of four winners for GodolphinCredit: Alan Crowhurst

But from then on things went more swimmingly for Godolphin, who ended up narrowly claiming the leading owners' title thanks to four successes, including an impressive debut success for 1,000 Guineas hopeful Light Blush.

The other three victories came in handicap company and, although connections will have sought bigger prizes and been left confused after Masar's lacklustre performance, a prolific end to the meeting will have provided a timely tonic.

4. Fast ground leads to numerous course records

Course records fell left, right and centre over the first two days of the July festival thanks to a strong tailwind and lightning fast ground, performances that taken out of context could be overestimated when it comes to analysing future races.

The track was obviously in great condition and everything was in place for runners to produce quick times but the records only began in 2017 when race distances at the venue were remeasured – and it is worth noting the ground on Saturday was slower thanks to some overnight watering.

Nevertheless, three winners on the final day – Vale Of Kent, California Love and Ten Sovereigns – all dipped under standard, so can be marked up for their efforts.

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