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| Sumita Pawar |
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At Newmarket's July festival, William Buick will ride Kinross in the Pertemps July Cup and Prosperous Voyage, the defending champion, in the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes.
William Buick has been given the chance to ride Kinross in the Pertemps July Cup and Prosperous Voyage in the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket's July festival, as regular rider Frankie Dettori has been suspended for nine days for careless riding at Royal Ascot.
Kinross Aims For July Cup Glory With New Jockey
Kinross, who has previously won two Group One races, including the British Champions Sprint at Ascot last year, is currently the third favorite with odds of 6-1 for the July Cup.
After finishing seventh in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot last month, Kinross is set to be ridden by William Buick in the upcoming race.
Buick will be taking over from regular rider Frankie Dettori, who has been the jockey for Kinross since its purchase by Hong Kong businessman Marc Chan in 2021.
This race would have been Dettori's last chance to win the July Cup before his retirement at the end of the year.
However, with Dettori suspended, Buick has been given the opportunity to seek his first victory in the contest.
Lezoo, last year's Cheveley Park winner and also owned by Chan and Andrew Rosen, is unlikely to participate in the race. She finished tenth in the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot in her last race.
The owners will have Prosperous Voyage representing them in the Falmouth Stakes. The mare aims to follow in the footsteps of Sonic Lady and Soviet Song, who have both won the race twice.
Jamie McCalmont, racing manager for Chan, said on Tuesday, “William will ride Kinross in the July Cup and Prosperous Voyage in the Falmouth Stakes. William rode one horse for us last year, which was Lezoo when she won the Cheveley Park Stakes. As such, we felt he had to be the go-to jockey for the horses when Frankie was unavailable.
“You feel that you owe a jockey the courtesy to give them this sort of ride when they have done you a good turn in the past, so he was always going to be the first choice and it’s brilliant to have him riding both horses.
“Lezoo is unlikely to run. She came out of Ascot well and we don’t really know what happened, so we’ve put a line through it. She’s been in really good form, which is why Ralph put her in the race to have a look and see, but it hardly looks like it’s going to be a soft race, does it? We’ll see what other options there are for her.”
Rob Hornby guided Prosperous Voyage to a surprise win over the favorite Inspiral in the Falmouth Stakes last year. He then went on to win the July Cup on Alcohol Free the next day.
This year, Jamie Spencer's suspension has led to Hornby riding Khaadem in the July Cup. Hornby recently secured his fourth Group 1 victory on Westover in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.
Khaadem was added to the July Cup lineup on Monday for a fee of £36,000 after his unexpected win at Royal Ascot in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes, where he had odds of 80-1.
Alex Cole, racing manager for owners Jim and Fitri Hay, said, “The Hays like to leave the choice of jockey to the trainer, and it’s great to see that Charlie [Hills] has booked Rob for the ride.”