Mozart leads O`Brien quartet

Favourite Mozart will be accompanied by three stablemates when he lines up in Thursday`s Darley July Cup after Ballydoyle maestro Aidan O`Brien narrowed his options for the Group One race at today`s final declaration stage.

O`Brien had left seven horses in the Stg#200,000 contest at the five-day confirmation stage and Mozart, Modigliani, Ishiguru and Freud remained this morning.

Mozart owes his prominent place in the betting to an authoritative success in the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot on his latest start.

O`Brien`s quartet are set to face 16 rivals in one of the most competitive runnings of the race in recent years.

Pipalong has been given the green light to take her chance by Tim Easterby after disappointing at Royal Ascot on her most recent racecourse appearance.

'She got knocked sideways in the Cork and Orrery,' explained the trainer.

'It was a rough race and we had to give her a bit of physiotherapy when she came back.

'She was a bit sore in her muscles behind. But she`s sound and cantering again and seems very well.'

Pipalong finished third to Japanese raider Agnes World and Lincoln Dancer in this race 12 months ago, beaten just two short-heads.

Coming into the race in much better form is Harmonic Way, who enjoyed the breaks Pipalong did not when winning the Cork and Orrery at the Royal meeting.

His trainer Roger Charlton said: 'I`m really looking forward to the race.

'It`s actually very helpful to us that it`s such a strong race both in terms of quality and field size. This should ensure the fast pace that we need.

'A lesser race with a small field might lead to a slower pace. There are plenty of genuine pace horses amongst the principals who prefer to run from the front, like Mozart for instance. That should suit us well.'

Shibboleth, added to the field at a cost of Stg#15,000 last week has been declared but Funny Valentine, also supplemented at the same time, will miss the race through injury.

A spokesman for trainer Terry Mills said this morning: 'Unfortunately he has got a slight injury, something he picked up at Sandown last week, and it is going to rule him out for a while, possibly for the rest of the season.

'It is a blow to a small stable after we laid out the money to put him in the race but these things happen in racing.'

The state of the going is causing concern for some trainers, with connections of Tillerman, Volata and Vision of Night all warning that their charges could be withdrawn if further rain was to turn the going soft.