Matt Brocklebank turns his attention to the Darley July Cup and fancies Dragon Symbol to claim a deserved big-race success.
The three-year-old sprinters look a really strong bunch this time around and DRAGON SYMBOL is a very fair price at 7/1 ahead of the Darley July Cup at Newmarket on July 10.
Every strand of his form seems to have worked out well since a belated racecourse debut at the start of March and he was clearly a touch unlucky to be demoted to second having passed the post in front of Campanelle in the Commonwealth Cup last week.
That’s not to say it wasn’t the correct decision – far from it, in fact - but it would also be perfectly reasonable to argue Archie Watson’s horse was most likely the best horse on the day.
Circumstances had conspired against the son of Cable Bay on his previous start too. Making his first appearance on testing ground in the Group Two Sandy Lane Stakes at Haydock, he coped admirably with the conditions and was only nosed out of it by Rohaan.
David Evans’ horse had far more luck at Ascot than Dragon Symbol, getting a nice split at the right time to fly home and win the Wokingham from a mark of 112.
There must be a chance three-year-old Rohaan is now supplemented for the July Cup (was ineligible for the Commonwealth Cup on account of being a gelding) but Dragon Symbol looks made for the stiff six furlongs on the July Course and connections must be desperate to see what he can do back on a sound surface this summer.
Campanelle has headed home and won’t be taking in the July Cup, while Jersey winner Creative Force looks bound for the Maurice de Gheest and Diligent Harry is going for the Chipchase at Newcastle this weekend with trainer Clive Cox not certain to pitch him in here for his turf debut.
Cox also has Supremacy and at 20/1 with a couple of firms the 2020 Middle Park winner has to be included in calculations. He was a real pro at two and showed plenty of guts to beat Lucky Vega, Minzaal and Tactical on the Rowley Mile in September.
One blip can always be excused and his Ascot flop in the Pavilion Stakes at the end of April smacked of ‘too bad to be true’, after which his trainer reported the horse was slightly under the weather.
His odds arguably compensate for that disappointing comeback but the other three-year-old I’d be interested in at this stage is Martyn Meade’s Method.
He was only fifth in the Sandy Lane so clearly has something to find on form but it was his seasonal comeback against several hard-fit rivals and he didn’t shape too badly at all given the ground would have been too testing in an ideal world.
I’m still not convinced whether he’s more of a five-furlong horse going forward but he’s not one to be giving up on at all and no doubt there are worse 33/1 each-way darts once running plans become a little clearer.
Of the older brigade, the BHA handicapper now has just 1lb between Dream Of Dreams (120) and Oxted (119) following their respective wins in the Diamond Jubilee and King’s Stand.
Dream Of Dreams hasn’t cut much ice on this track in the past – including when down the field in 2019 behind Ten Sovereigns – and the reining champ Oxted would have to be higher on the shortlist on that score alone.
On the subject of Ten Sovereigns, it was vaguely interesting to see Aidan O’Brien leave Battleground in at Wednesday’s confirmation stage though an experiment over 10 furlongs seems equally as likely now, following his St James’s Palace Stakes third behind runaway winner Poetic Flare.
O’Brien’s other contenders are the largely disappointing Lipizzaner and Queen Anne runner-up Lope Y Fernandez, who has improved for a mile over the past 12 months and might be more suited to being aimed towards the Sussex at Goodwood.
Published at 1500 BST on 23/06/21
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