The most interesting heroes are the ones with a quirk and Shaquille promises to keep his fans on the edge of their seats all summer. A one-and-a-half-length win here in the Group One July Cup was a carbon copy of his remarkable victory at Royal Ascot last month.
Once again, Shaquille blew the start and presented his rivals with several lengths for free. Once again, he picked himself up, went through the gears and then stormed to the front on the way to an emphatic success. Having started his three-year-old season in a handicap, Julie Camacho’s colt is now the champion sprinter-elect and we can only wonder how impressive he might be if he could manage to set off on equal terms.
Oisin Murphy took his time to work his way into contention at Ascot, but Rossa Ryan, replacing the suspended Murphy, made up his lost ground more swiftly under the hard-pulling Shaquille, going into second after a quarter of a mile and then hitting the front soon after halfway.
Any concerns among his backers that the 5-2 joint-favourite may have over-raced to get there were soon dispelled when Ryan asked for a final kick. As Little Big Bear, the other joint-favourite, dropped away tamely, Shaquille ran on well to beat Run To Freedom, a 28-1 outsider, with Kinross (4-1) back in third.
Camacho and her husband, Steve Brown, train around 50 Flat horses at her base near Malton in North Yorkshire, which is a relatively small string by modern standards on the Flat.
Shaquille’s Group One wins at Ascot and here have taken her into the top 20 in the trainers’ championship with more than £1m banked, making her the first female trainer to reach seven figures in a season.
“It is brilliant. It is not as if it is an overnight success,” Camacho said. “We have been at it a long time. It is just nice that people in the north can have a bit of success, because there are some really good trainers in the north and, if we can get the ammunition, we can do well with them.
“We will probably go to Haydock [in September for the Group One Sprint Cup] although we will put him in at Deauville [for the Prix Maurice de Gheest in August]. Steve will discuss it with Martin [Hughes, Shaquille’s joint owner]. I’m only a small part, Steve plays a bigger part than I do.”
Catterick Bridge: 2.22 Palio 2.52 Jamil 3.22 Emirates Angel 3.52 Blazing Son 4.22 Obee Jo 4.57 Mrs Bagerran
Bath: 2.30 Bazball (nap) 3.00 I’m Mable 3.30 Adaay In Devon 4.00 Ray’s The One 4.30 Dee’s Dream 5.05 Hitched 5.40 Mr Trick
Uttoxeter: 2.40 Rock On Tommy 3.10 Manimole 3.40 No Getaway 4.10 Secret Trix 4.40 Miss Antipova 5.15 One Man Party
Yarmouth: 5.35 Desert Falcon 6.10 Our Bank 6.40 She’s A Mirage 7.10 Rajindri 7.40 Lilkian 8.10 Selina’s Star
Wolverhampton: 6.30 Royal Mariner 7.00 Wrath Of Hector 7.30 Battista 8.00 Alioski (nb) 8.30 Royal Bassett 9.00 Codswallop
Little Big Bear’s tame performance was a disappointment for Aidan O’Brien and his Ballydoyle stable, but tempered by the performance of City Of Troy in the Group Two Superlative Stakes earlier on the card.
City Of Troy accelerated nearly seven lengths clear of his field and was cut to around 3-1 for the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket next May and 4-1 for the Derby at Epsom the following month.
“He is a very unusual horse and he has an unbelievable mind,” O’Brien said. “No matter what speed you ask him to go, he is happy to go. You sit handy, he is fast. He seems to keep pushing it out and there doesn’t seem to be any limit to his trip. He can go and sit with anything.
“He is pure Classic-bred and he has movement, speed and stamina. It is all rolled into one. He has an unusual temperament, an unusual demeanour, an unusual stride and unusual ability.”
On one of racing’s busiest Saturday afternoons, Pride Of America, at 18-1, took the John Smith’s Cup at York, Europe’s richest 10-furlong handicap, while Master Of The Seas powered away from Aldaary, the 11-10 favourite, to land the Group Two Summer Mile at Ascot by four lengths.
