Star-Studded International Line-Up For 2005 Darley July Cup A star-studded entry of 71 has been received for the £250,000 Group One Darley July Cup, Europe´s premier sprint and the highlight of Newmarket´s three-day July Meeting on Thursday, July 7. This year, the famous six-furlong contest promises once again to be a truly international affair with some of the best sprinters from Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, Japan and the USA entered alongside the leading home-based contenders.»Click here for entries. Paul Perry, who went so close with Choisir two years ago, has entered Fastnet Rock. The son of Danehill has already won two of the leading sprints 'Down Under' this year with victories in the Group One Lightning Stakes at Flemington in February and the Group One Oakleigh Plate at Caulfield later in the same month. With Choisir going off 9-4 favourite in 2003 and Exceed and Excel starting the 4-1 favourite in last year´s contest, the last two Darley July Cup market leaders have been Australian challengers. Hideyuki Mori provided the first Japanese-trained winner in Britain when he sent out Agnes World to success in the 2000 Darley July Cup. He also saddled Seeking The Dia to finish 12th in the race last year. This year the trainer has made an entry for Keeneland Swan, a dual Group Three winner in the land of the rising sun and runner-up in the prestigious Takamatsunomiya Kinen at Chukyo in March. The two potential challengers from North America are Soaring Free from the Canadian stable of Mark Frostad and Wrzeszcz, trained in the USA by Tom Amoss. Soaring Free, who was also entered for the Darley July Cup last year, is a high-class performer over both sprint distances and a mile, with his biggest success to date coming in the Group One Atto Mile at Woodbine in September while he has also finished fifth and fourth in the latest two runnings of the Breeders´ Cup Mile. Wrzeszcz has been running in turf sprint races in the USA, most recently finishing fourth in the Group Three Aegon Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs on May 6. John Hammond supplies the one French entry in Miss Emma, a Group Three scorer at Maisons-Laffitte last season. Aidan O´Brien, fresh from landing both the UltimatePoker.com 1000 and 2000 Guineas at Newmarket earlier this month, has 11 entries to choose from as he bids for a third Darley July Cup victory following Stravinsky (1999) and Mozart (2001). Footstepsinthesand, the UltimatePoker.com 2000 Guineas hero, could revert to sprinting in this contest while Oratorio, fourth in the Guineas, is also entered. The master of Ballydoyle could also be represented by Airwave, third behind Oasis Dream in 2003 when trained by Henry Candy, as well as Antonius Pius, seventh last year. Other Irish contenders could include Damson, winner of last season´s Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot and runner-up in the Sky Bet Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket. She was the ante-post favourite for the UltimatePoker.com 1000 Guineas before defecting at the 11th hour due to a late setback, while Democratic Deficit was successful in the bet365 Craven Stakes at Newmarket before finishing sixth in the UltimatePoker.com 2000 Guineas. The Darley July Cup is one of the few races to have eluded the Maktoum family´s Godolphin operation which has six entries this year, including Dubawi, fifth on his seasonal reappearance when hot-favourite for the UltimatePoker.com 2000 Guineas, Byron, a Group Two winner at Goodwood last year and also last season´s Coventry Stakes runner-up Council Member. Other leading hopes include the Roger Charlton´s Avonbridge, winner of the Vcbet Palace House Stakes at Newmarket earlier this month when he defeated Ashdown Express, runner-up in last season´s Darley July Cup to Frizzante. Frizzante´s trainer James Fanshawe could be represented this year by Soar, triumphant in the Lowther Stakes at York in 2004. The best of the older generation is last year´s UltimatePoker.com 1000 Guineas hero Attraction, who if she were to line up would be running over sprint distances for the first time since her juvenile career. Tim Easterby has a strong hand with triple Group One scorer Somnus as well as last season´s Golden Jubilee Stakes victor Fayr Jag engaged, while Pastoral Pursuits, trained by Hughie Morrison, looked a progressive performer in 2004 when taking the Group Two Park Stakes at Doncaster. Michael Prosser, Clerk of the Course at Newmarket, commented: 'So far in this century, Agnes World has won the Darley July Cup for Japan, Mozart for Ireland and the Aussies have had the last two beaten favourites. I doubt you would find a more international race in Britain and it is now firmly established as one of the world´s great sprinting contests. 'We are obviously thrilled once again to have received a plethora of international entries with horses from Europe, Asia, North America and Australia engaged. There is quality throughout the entries and it will be fascinating to see how the international challengers compare to the best that Britain and Ireland can offer. ' The three-day July Meeting runs from Tuesday, July 5 through to Thursday, July 7.
