William Buick reached a significant milestone in his riding career here as Mill Stream, at 11-1, dug deep to hold off the persistent challenge of Swingalong and win the Group One July Cup – the midsummer championship event for sprinters of all ages – by a neck, giving the reigning champion jockey his 100th victory at the highest level.
The majority of his century of Group One or Grade One winners – 58, to be precise – have been trained by Charlie Appleby, the Godolphin operation’s principal trainer in the UK, and 21 have been sent out by John Gosden, another Newmarket heavy-hitter.
Only three, by contrast, have been saddled by Jane Chapple-Hyam, who trains Mill Stream at a much smaller yard on the outskirts of racing’s HQ, but they are the only top-level winners of her career and the latest on the list was greeted with huge delight.
Mill Stream was among the favourites for the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot, and ran a respectable race to finish third – with Swingalong just ahead of him in second.
“It was hard to take third at Ascot but to come on and win at my local track is important,” Chapple-Hyam said. “We knew there was going to be a lot of speed up front and I just left it to William. He is the master and knows the horse well.
“Today is ours. This is my home track and my favourite track, his owner [the businessman] Peter Harris knows the game and I’m a very lucky lady to have him as an owner.”
Stratford-On-Avon 1.30 Gambie Tiep 2.00 Queen Of Steel 2.30 Coconut Twist (nap) 3.00 Play Pretend 3.30 Flighttothestars 4.00 Finest View 4.30 Hammer Dan 5.00 Hugueneau
Perth 2.15 Lady Mendoza 2.45 Tonto Foley 3.15 Kajaki 3.45 Cap Du Nord (nb) 4.15 Fever Dream 4.45 Just Dottie
Mill Stream is now likely to head to the big summer meeting at Deauville in August, where the extra half-furlong in the Group One Prix Maurice de Gheest is expected to suit him ideally.
Chapple-Hyam was completing a double on the day after taking a handicap earlier on the card with Asian Daze, in the colours of the Australian training legend Gai Waterhouse, but it was Mill Stream’s jockey who dominated the card with a 905-1 four-timer, including three wins for Appleby.
Ayr 2.18 Fred On Fire 2.53 My Harrison George 3.28 The Caltonian (nb) 4.03 Ramon Di Loria 4.35 Makalu 5.10 Empire Of Light
Newton Abbot 2.30 Boyles Hill 3.05 In This World 3.40 Clearance 4.15 Begin The Luck 4.50 Getmetothemoon 5.25 Konigin Isabella 5.55 Back In The Bay
Windsor 5.15 Siegen 5.45 Bold Impact 6.20 Under Siege 6.50 Roi De France 7.20 Ormolulu (nap) 7.50 Lyndon B 8.20 Silver Gunn 8.50 Wootton’s Jewel
Wolverhampton 5.40 Sulala 6.10 Sheila’s Paradise 6.40 Kodebreaker 7.10 Ustath 7.40 Nancy P 8.10 Daytona Lady 8.40 Crown’s Lady
Appleby took the Group Two Superlative Stakes for the fifth time in the last nine years when Ancient Truth, the odds-on favourite, stayed on strongly to beat Seagulls Eleven by a one and a half lengths, and the subsequent Group One-winning exploits of his last three winners of the race – Quorto, Master Of The Seas and Native Mission – suggest that the son of Dubawi is very much a horse to follow.
Dubawi, in fact, was also a Superlative winner back in 2004, and Appleby said afterwards that Ancient Truth is “very much up there” in the juvenile pecking order at Moulton Paddocks.
“It’s hard for any horse to pick up here when the pace isn’t as genuine as you’d like it to be,” Appleby said. “William [Buick] had to take him back to come around, so full credit to the horse and I think there’s some improvement still to come.
“He’s a horse that I feel a mile will probably be his maximum, and he’s one that we’ll definitely work back from the Guineas [at Newmarket next spring].”
Another Appleby-trained juvenile, Desert Flower, made a successful racecourse debut in the opening maiden, sweeping past Flight, the 2-1 favourite, with a furlong to run.
The Group Two May Hill Stakes at Doncaster in September is one possible target for Desert Flower, who can be backed at around 33-1 for next year’s 1,000 Guineas.
