 |
|
| Staff Writer |
 |
Clive Cox, a two-time winner of the prestigious July Cup, is aiming to secure another victory at Newmarket next week. The Lambourn trainer will be vying for success with Jasour, who finished third behind July Cup favourite Inisherin at Royal Ascot last month.
A missed prep race was detrimental to the 3YO colt's performance in the Commonwealth Cup, where he was narrowly beaten to second place by Lake Forest. Despite this setback, Cox is optimistic that a return to the July course will result in an improved performance from the 12-1 shot.
Furthermore, Jasour will now face one less rival, as last year's Gr. 1 Phoenix Stakes winner Bucanero Fuerte has been ruled out of the race. This comes after he had already missed a clash with Jasour in the Commonwealth Cup.
"Jasour's come out of Ascot well but he was probably just a little bit too fresh," Cox said. "We'd intended to run him in the Sandy Lane but had to miss it due to the extremely soft conditions there, which wasn't ideal, so it may have made a difference at Ascot. He's worked really well this week though and I'm encouraged by the way he's seemed since Ascot.
"The July Cup looks a very strong race by the entries, but we're delighted he's got track form and I'm pleased he's heading in that direction, especially with the three-year-olds having such a good record in the race."
Having clinched victory as a juvenile in the Gr.2 July Stakes, Jasour is now aiming to join the ranks of 3YO winners of the £600,000 sprint, following a strong trend of success for younger horses in recent years.
While Clive Cox's first winner, Lethal Force, achieved success as a 4YO in 2013, Harry Angel continued the trend by winning in 2017, subsequently triumphing in Haydock's Sprint Cup.
Similar to Jasour, Harry Angel also placed in the Commonwealth Cup before securing victory at Newmarket. Cox remains optimistic that his latest star can continue the trend as he faces older competition for the first time in his career.
The trainer said: "We were very fortunate to have Harry and Lethal Force, and now we're really excited about Jasour trying to win the same race and go forwards from here as well. He's a high-class performer and I'm just delighted we have that calibre of horse again.
"We've always held Jasour in very high regard and I think physically he's developed very pleasingly, it's been very visible this spring. It's an exciting time of year when the 3YO crop come up against the older horses for the first time."
Although Bucanero Fuerte will not be competing, his trainer Adrian Murray might still have a representative in last year's 150-1 Norfolk winner, Valiant Force, who finished far back in the King Charles III Stakes in his first run for the yard.
Murray said: "Bucanero Fuerte lost a bit of weight over at Ascot and he's back riding out, but it's going to take a couple of weeks for him to come back. The July Cup will probably come a bit too soon for him. We'll build him back up and we have plenty of options in the autumn.
"Valiant Force could run in the July Cup. We didn't have him back long before Ascot and he was a bit stiff and sore afterwards. Hopefully, he can come on a good bit from that and we'll see a different horse on his next start."