Newmarket July Festival Day 3: Mission Central can become king of the sprinters
Liam Bramall
Newmarket July Festival Day 3: Best bet, each-way selection and treble
Recommended bets include:
We’ve been treated to some excellent racing action at Newmarket this week and their July Festival concludes with another cracking seven-race card on Saturday.
There’s a good mix of handicap and Group-race entertainment on offer and the day’s main event is undoubtedly the July Cup, which is shaping up to be a red-hot renewal.
Here is everything you need to know for Saturday’s Newmarket card and that includes our expert’s big fancies, who are well worth considering.
Day 3 - Key info
First race: 13:40 British EBF Maiden Stakes
Feature race: 16:35 July Cup Stakes
The July Festival goes out with a bang on Saturday and the seven races on offer will be competitive and quality in equal measures, so you won’t want to miss a thing.
Our big race of the day, the July Cup, is going to be a classic, as three Royal Ascot Group 1 winners are set to clash and there’s also some international flavour with a Japanese raider.
We get underway with an interesting two-year-old maiden (13:40), before three brilliant handicaps, including the thoroughly competitive Bunbury Cup (15:25).
Aidan O’Brien runs a promising colt in the Group 2 Superlative Stakes (16:00) and the highlight of the day is next on the agenda (16:35).
Best bet of the day
Mission Central to win the July Cup Stakes (16:35) @ 11/2 with Live ScoreBet
The King Charles III Stakes had previously eluded Aidan O’Brien, although admittedly he doesn’t target the 5f contest too often, but he completed his set of Royal Ascot’s Group 1 prizes as three-year-old Mission Central got the job done for Ballydoyle this year however and he should be well suited by the return to 6f.
A fair two-year-old last term, he bolted up when winning his maiden and went on to win a Group 3 in Ireland and a valuable race at Ascot on British Champions’ Day.
He made the perfect start to the year and managed to win back-to-back Listed contests over 5f at Naas. At Royal Ascot he needed every yard in order to come out on top and further progress is anticipated now going back over 6f.
Best each-way bet of the day
Physique each-way in the Bunbury Cup (15:25) @ 25/1 with LiveScore Bet
Micky Fenton’s Physique is 3lb ahead of the handicapper on this occasion and he was an impressive winner when making all the running over course and distance last time out.
The result never looked in doubt and he was always in control, eventually going on to score by just shy of four-lengths, and the six-year-old is still well treated on his best form.
It’s worth noting that the son of Kingman landed the very valuable Ahonoora Handicap at the Galway Festival a couple of years ago and he’s on a 3lb lower mark now.
Day 3 acca
Everybody loves an accumulator and here are three horses who can go all the way at Newmarket on Saturday. Our Day 3 treble is 52/1 with LiveScore Bet.
Bet 1: Back Eklleem to win the Weatherbys Handicap (14:52) @ 7/2
William Haggas’ Eklleem could hardly have been more impressive when bolting up in a Ripon novice over this trip last time out and a mark of 87 could prove to be fairly generous off the back of that. Improvement is anticipated on handicap debut here.
Bet 2: Back Abraham Lincoln to win the Superlative Stakes (16:00) @ 5/6
Ballydoyle’s juveniles almost always improve significantly from their debuts so it’s an ominous sign that Abraham Lincoln managed to win so impressively on debut at the Curragh, despite the fact that the trip was probably on the short side. Highly rated by connections, it’ll be a surprise if he’s not up to winning this Group 2 contest.
Bet 3: Back Mission Central to win the July Cup Stakes (16:35) @ 11/2
It’s quite possible that we haven’t seen the best of Mission Central yet, despite the fact that he won a Group 1 at Royal Ascot. The extra furlong looks like a big plus for him in the July Cup.
