July Cup preview Henry Candy has gone on record as saying he would rather not have to pitch his two best horses in against each other in the Darley July Cup and he is struggling to split Limato and Twilight Son at Newmarket. The pair come in off the back of differing preparations, with Twilight Son winning his second Group One in the Diamond Jubilee at Royal Ascot whereas Limato has suffered a stop-start season. Candy had the idea of stretching him out to a mile and while he ran a solid race in fourth in the Lockinge, the evidence was "inconclusive". As the ground went against him at Royal Ascot, Candy pulled stumps and rerouted him to this. "They have similar chances. I've been slightly training Limato to get him to settle with a mile in mind all the time," said Candy. "The Lockinge was inconclusive. I think he got the mile OK. The horses were not right and the ground was against him. He still ran a cracking race. Taking him back in trip in a very serious Group One he might be against it, but that speed is still there and he has shown that. "Whether his mind is quite sharp enough to compete with the out-and-out speed of the race remains to be seen. "It's just been frustrating it has been a wet spring, as we have not found out what we would have liked to about the horse. "I think if he did confirm himself as a sprinter we would stick to sprinting." He went on: "Twilight Son is not such an exciting horse to watch, whereas Limato captured people's imagination. His performance at Doncaster last year was electrifying and although he didn't win the Foret the amount of ground he made up was extraordinary . "Limato is quite a dramatic horse to watch. Twilight Son is more the workman. He has got the job done a few times. "I do think he has progressed from Ascot - going on what Ryan Moore has said he will improve with that run. "The attitude and his work have been very good. Obviously it is a short time between two Group Ones so we have not done a lot of work. "He will need to be a little bit better than at Ascot, but I am hopeful that he will be." Candy's four-year-olds may have most to fear from a three-year-old filly in Karl Burke's Quiet Reflection, who has only lost once in her life and confirmed herself right out of the top drawer when winning the Commonwealth Cup at the Royal meeting, the same race Muhaarar took before this last year. Burke said: "She's strengthened again from Ascot and is maturing all the time. She looks stronger and has actually put some muscle on, as you would expect from a three-year-old at this time of year. Watching her she looked very powerful. "It will be interesting and I'm looking forward to it, but I'm not going there over-confident. "You've got to give respect to the horses and trainers involved with those older horses. There's some good trainers like Henry Candy - I've got an awful lot of respect for him. "We go there with our eyes open and we've got nothing to lose. We'll find out how good we are." Another Royal Ascot winner was Clive Cox's Profitable, over five furlongs in the King's Stand, and he needed to be supplemented to see if he stays another furlong. "Winning the Darley July Cup three years ago with Lethal Force was a very memorable occasion and it fills me with excitement to be going back there with a horse in tip-top order like Profitable," said Cox. "There are no two ways about it, the sixth furlong is an unknown and is something that we are a little uncertain about. "He has been extremely successful over five furlongs and since the Nunthorpe Stakes at York is far enough away we were very keen to give him a run in between then and Royal Ascot. "Last year he ran in the Nunthorpe after a break and I feel that he is clearly better with a busy racing programme. So the choice was between running him at Goodwood with a 5lb penalty or running at Newmarket without one." There is never much between Charles Hills' Magical Memory and Twilight Son, and the pair meet again. Sam Hoskins, of owners Kennet Valley Thoroughbreds, said: "We have beaten Twilight Son once and that was on quick ground and he's beaten us on the slower side of good. This time we'll have a real crack at him, hopefully. "He is a very good horse and there is probably a bit more depth to this race with the likes of Limato and Profitable. Our horse is a good horse. "He showed that at Ascot, even though things didn't go right for him. "It looks a great race. Hopefully they will go flat out." Richard Fahey runs the well-supported Don't Touch and Eastern Impact, who was third 12 months ago. "I have been very pleased with Don't Touch since his Salisbury win and we are going up another gear with him," said Fahey. "I think the big field, fast ground and uphill finish will be tailor-made for him. "We have intentionally kept Eastern Impact fresh for this race as he likes Newmarket and seems to be 7lb better there than anywhere else. "He may not have run for a couple of months but he has not had any issues and he certainly won't blow up." The veteran Sole Power is back again. "Everybody was ready to go to Ascot. We'd have loved to go, but there's no point (on soft ground). He's been very good to me so I have to look after him and there was no point running him," said trainer Eddie Lynam. "He thinks he's still at his peak. The form book says he's not, but he's in great form and he's enjoying it. He's in a few races over here - the Sapphire Stakes and the Flying Five - so we'll race him on this season anyway." Adding overseas intrigue is Mongolian Saturday, who came back with a problem after running at Ascot. His trainer Enebish Ganbat said: "He should have run better at Royal Ascot. After Royal Ascot we gastroscoped him and found he had a big ulcer. We treated him and he should be better now. "Five furlongs is better for him as he is a real natural speed horse." Peter Chapple-Hyam runs one-time Derby fourth Arod in this rather than bid for a repeat win in the Summer Mile at Ascot. "His work this week and last has been the best he's worked since last year," he said. "He's not been right all year. Touch wood, I think all my horses are all right now."
