Ratings Update: Sovereigns is so very good

With the dominant Blue Point retired on the back of his Diamond Jubilee win, the door was ajar for the three-year-olds to break through to the top sprint scene in Saturday’s July Cup, but their dominance on the day still came as a surprise – indeed, the first five places were all filled by the younger generation, their cause helped by some of the key older horses disappointing on the day.

In the event, it was the well-backed Ten Sovereigns (up 11 lb to 129) who led them home, producing a big personal best to comfortably turn the Commonwealth Cup form around with Advertise (up 1 lb to 124), with the faster ground possibly a factor – he is a fluent mover – while he simply looked more tuned in to sprinting again after being prepared for the Guineas in the spring.

Ten Sovereigns is entered in the Nunthorpe and the Sprint Cup already, likely to be hard to beat in the latter if he can reproduce this calibre of performance, though the former is first on the agenda and, while that's a much greater test of speed, the chances are that he'll cope, rated behind only Battaash (who has disappointed on his two tries in the race) amongst those entered.

Advertise lost nothing in defeat, produced another very good effort with the blinkers retained, and he seems sure to go well in the other big six-furlong races this season, while the third Fairyland (up 3 lb to 116) and fourth Pretty Pollyanna (remains on 115) also deserve credit given how the race developed – the former fared best of the smaller group who came stands side, while Pretty Pollyanna ran an inefficient race after her slow start (soon prominent).

Ten Sovereigns bounces back to form to win the Darley July Cup! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/IZZnlonnwW

— ITV Racing (@itvracing) July 13, 2019

Also at Newmarket on Saturday, the Superlative Stakes attracted a promising field that featured five once-raced winners, and it was ultimately two of them who progressed to dominate the finish, with the level that they ran to on the higher end of the scale for this race.

The winner Mystery Power (up 17 lb to 111p) built on the good impression he made on his Haydock debut to maintain his unbeaten record up in class, showing a good attitude to beat Juan Elcano (108p from 97P) by a length. He will stay a mile, by No Nay Never but with a lot of stamina on his page, and is open to further improvement, while similar comments also apply to the runner-up, who, if anything, still looked the greener of the pair (dwelt at the start).

The chief betting heat on the card was the Bunbury Cup, in which improvers/unexposed types were in short supply, as borne out by the lack of three-year-olds.

Vale of Kent (up 5 lb to 112), who was making his 21^st start in only 18 months of racing, proved at least as good ever to record his biggest win yet, making just about all against the far-side rail to beat the likeable Solar Gold (down 1 lb to 110) by half a length. The winner has already come up short off marks of 100 or more, though, so will probably prove vulnerable once reassessed.

Sharing top billing for those who like a puzzle to solve was the John Smith’s Diamond Jubilee Cup at York, which looked a typically competitive renewal, though tactics ultimately played a big part on the day – the first seven home raced in the first eight positions more or less throughout, with those in rear inconvenienced by a significant steadying of the pace after three furlongs or so.

Pivoine (up 7 lb to 118) still deserves full credit for his smart performance on the day, though, and he should be capable of making his presence felt in listed/minor pattern company on this evidence, for all that that level seemed to prove beyond him earlier in the season.

💎🏆 The John Smith's Diamond Jubilee Cup goes to Pivoine! 🏆💎

The Andrew Balding trained gelding wins in decisive style in the hands of @rob_hornby18

#JohnSmiths60 pic.twitter.com/Uk7dt0b1FC

— York Racecourse (@yorkracecourse) July 13, 2019

Earlier on the Knavesmire, the John Smith’s Silver Cup threw up one of the finishes of the day, with just a head separating the first three past the post. Red Verdon (remains on 115) bounced back to his best to get the narrow verdict and, like most of the field, he is likely to be back at York next month for the first £1 million Ebor.

The Summer Mile at Ascot also witnessed a thrilling conclusion, but this one had a tragic postscript with Beat The Bank (up 2 lb to 124), who had demonstrated all of his trademark bravery to beat Zaaki (remains on 120) by a nose, having to be put down after suffering a serious injury almost on the line. The winner of nine of his 18 career starts, it was a sad end for a grand servant to the Andrew Balding yard, and an event that cast a shadow over a magnificent day for his owners.

Back to Newmarket and the July Festival, which got underway on Thursday with a strong renewal of the Bahrain Trophy, featuring a mixture of proven Group 2 performers – the front three in the market had all placed in that grade at Royal Ascot – and unexposed stayers.

Ultimately, it was one from the latter group who found the necessary improvement to run out a dominant winner, Spanish Mission (up 10 lb to 116p) producing the best performance in this race since 2006. He seems sure to benefit from the longer trip if taking his chance in the St Leger (open to further improvement), though he'd need to be supplemented and connections reportedly already have an eye on a valuable prize in America in the same month.

Spanish Mission and Jamie Spencer bide their time to clinch the 1.50 Bahrain Trophy Stakes by four lengths from Nayef Road. #JulyFestival pic.twitter.com/n3MaIIA30b

— Newmarket Racecourse (@NewmarketRace) July 11, 2019

The July Stakes that followed also featured plenty with Royal Ascot form, and that proved key with Coventry seventh Royal Lytham (up 11 lb to 109p) producing a much-improved display to beat the Windsor Castle runner-up Platinum Star (up 10 lb to 109) by a short head, with favourite Visinari (down 2 lb to 108p), who had created such a big impression when making a winning debut over C&D, just a head further back in third.

The form looks well up to standard for the race, despite the tight finish, and the first three are all colts of some potential, especially when stepping up to seven furlongs.

The Princess of Wales’s Stakes attracted a strong line-up, but the form looks muddling at this stage with tactics proving all important in a slowly-run affair, last year’s Derby hero Masar (remains on 125) the big disappointment, finishing well held after being unable to find cover and fighting for his head in the early stages. The winner Communique (up 2 lb to 123), on the other hand, was always in the perfect spot and proved better than ever to land another Group 2; he’s a very likeable colt and deserves another chance at the highest level, for all that he probably needs to improve again.

Moving on to Friday, and Mark Johnston was amongst the winners once again, with Raffle Prize (up 5 lb to 109) following up her Queen Mary success under a penalty in the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes and King’s Advice (up 6 lb to 116) landing the valuable stayers’ handicap that followed.

The latter has had a remarkable time of it since joining this yard, this his seventh win, and he is another who looks bound for the Ebor, while Raffle Prize produced an effort verging on smart to avenge her debut defeat at the hands of Daahyeh (104 from 106p), with the clock backing up what she achieved. She's now won two Group 2s, so it’s no real surprise that connections were talking of going for the Morny next, last year's winner Pretty Pollyanna having followed up there after all.

There was a slightly disappointing turnout for the Falmouth Stakes, the three-year-old challenge limited to just a pair of runners from the same stable, neither of whom could make much impact, while the race very much hinged on tactics, the winner Veracious (up 6 lb to 118) quickly grabbing the stand rail and never headed, having been allowed to set a rather pedestrian tempo.

Veracious holds off One Master and wins the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes at @NewmarketRace! pic.twitter.com/Xxd07WFmnk

— ITV Racing (@itvracing) July 12, 2019

Her profile offers some hope that she can build on this (lightly-raced sort with an excellent pedigree), but a second success at this level is likely to prove rather more difficult, and the one to take out of the race is arguably the runner-up One Master (remains on 119), who had plenty of ground to make up on a day when track records were tumbling and all but managed it; she seems better than ever right now, and may yet add to her success at this level in last year’s Foret before the end of the summer.

Finally, Japan (remains on 124p) stood out on form in an otherwise substandard field for the Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp on Sunday, and while he might have disappointed those expecting a repeat of his clear-cut Royal Ascot victory, he won with a bit more authority than the margins suggest, just needing to be pushed out to provide Aidan O’Brien with a fourth win in the race.

He remains his stable's most exciting three-year-old colt for the remainder of the year, with the prospect of even more to come, and the Arc rather than the St Leger now looks his autumn target, perhaps likely to follow the same path as his dam’s half-brother Sagamix, who won the Prix Niel en route to glory in Europe’s richest race in 1998.