Darley July Cup 2011 at Newmarket – Danny O’ Brien trained Star Witness to take on Delegator
Darley July Cup, a top international event to be unfolded at Newmarket racecourse on 9 July 2011. Three days of ultimate horse racing will include horses from all over the world, which makes it all the more exciting.
A Group 1 event, July Cup is run at a distance of 6 furlongs (1200 meters). It offers a purse of £400,000 and the winner of the race takes home £227,080.
The Sixth leg of the Global Sprint Challenge, July Cup is a part of the nine races run in the Global Sprint Challenge and the last part of it is run in England.
The races in England consist of the Golden Jubilee Stakes and the King’s Stand Stakes. This massive race attracts a field of twenty horses and this year it will be led by Delegator and the Australian sprinter, Star Witness, both will presumably quit racing
after the race and retire to stud.
The four-year old chestnut colt, Star Witness breezed at the Newmarket course under champion and a big race jockey Steven Arnold on 4 July.
The son of Starcraft will be looking to atone for defeats in the Royal Ascot. He ran in the King’s Stand Stakes and came agonizingly close to win the race but Prohibit got the better of him as he won by half a length over Star Witness.
He finished third in the Group 1 Golden Jubilee Stakes, 1 ¾ lengths behind the leader Society Rock. Trained by Danny O’Brien, Star Witness got the best odds of 7-to-1 ahead of the Darley July Cup.
Danny O’Brien praises the fact that the colt has familiarized himself with the Newmarket course with all the dips and rises in it, since in Australia the courses are all flat throughout.
The faceoff between Delegator and Star Witness was expected to go down in the Golden Jubilee Stakes at the Royal Ascot, but Delegator was scratched out of the race because of ground conditions.
The son of Dansili, Delegator the five-year old brown horse is coming off a win in the Group 2 Duke of York Blue Square Stakes on 11 May. Delegator has had 4 wins out of 14 starts and career earnings of £347,389.
The ground conditions will be a little testing for the horses because during the summer time it dies down and according to trainer, Danny O’Brien, it is going to be a tough six furlong event but the dying ground will suit Star Witness more when he compared
it to the ground at the Royal Ascot.
Star Witness had a comparatively good time in England, where he finished big races on the cards and proved to be a proper sprinter.
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