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The beginning of Newmarket’s three-day July meeting heralds the halfway mark of the Flat season. The first four Classics are well behind us, and the Eclipse last Saturday marked the first opportunity to compare the generations – opportunities that now gather pace with the July Cup on Saturday bringing together the sprint division.

So far, the season has been notable for the lack of a standout performer in almost any division. Looking through the ante-post markets, there is generally only one horse – Paddington in the Sussex Stakes – who is trading odds-on, with some of the other markets looking more like handicaps than Group races.

There are certainly candidates – Paddington, Gregory, Courage Mon Ami and Auguste Rodin to name but a few – but the second half of the season represents a breakthrough opportunity for many.

THURSDAY NEWMARKET SELECTIONS

ADAYAR is a rather typical example, who lines up in the feature Princess of Wales’s Stakes (15:35) against just three rivals. One of those is his stable companion Global Storm, whose presence is probably to ensure that the race is not run at a crawl. The laudable decision to keep the 2021 Derby winner in training has not yet really paid off, but the return to 1m 4f and the fact he no longer has a Group 1 penalty should mean his class tells here.

His Achilles heel could be very fast ground given his pronounced knee action, so connections will have welcomed the application of a nearly half an inch of watering on Tuesday to try and hold the ground. Isolated heavy downpours make things very difficult for the clerks of the courses, especially at Newmarket where the wind can rapidly dry the ground, and it is a tightrope that will have to be carefully walked all week to produce optimum and even conditions.

The first of the four races live on ITV is a St Leger trial (13:50) and, given the very healthy prize money, it’s a disappointing turnout in terms of numbers. Preference is just for SAINT GEORGE with his second in the Queen’s Vase to current Leger favourite Gregory looking to give him less questions to answer, not least his ability to stay the trip. Tower of London has the potential to improve for the extra distance, but it was only a handicap that he won last time and his price seems to already factor in significant improvement.

The feature 2YO race is the Group 2 Kingdom of Bahrain Stakes (14:25) and represents the challenge of bringing together various lines of juvenile form, but LAKE FOREST created a very favourable impression when winning at Haydock.

Trainer William Haggas rarely has juveniles fully wound-up on debut, with an actual/expected ratio of just 0.83 on first-time-out two-year-olds. His only other winning two-year-old debutant in 2023, Relief Rally, only went down narrowly in the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot. When they win first time out, they are worth noting.

The big field of the day comes in the Heritage Handicap (15:00) and will provide the first test of any draw advantage. FRANKNESS shaped at Ascot as if a return to 6f would very much suit but is drawn in stall 17 close to the far rail, so is committed to that side. Hopefully likely pace provider Quinault will head up the centre and give everyone room to operate.

JOCKEYS FOR COURSES

Tom Marquand’s 137-1 Sandown double came up trumps on Saturday, so here is the usual list of jockeys heading to venues on Thursday where they have a very good record:

• Carlisle – Ben Curtis
• Doncaster – Jamie Spencer (he loves a long straight!)
• Newmarket – Jim Crowley

FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD

Away from Newmarket, SOUTH DAKOTA SIOUX  is an interesting runner (14:35, Doncaster). He met trouble in running last time and the stable of David O’Meara seems to be turning the corner after an unusually quiet period.

STABLE TRACKER

There are no tracker horses engaged today, but you can find out details of those retained and released from last week here.

THURSDAY SELECTIONS:

SAINT GEORGE (13:50, Newmarket)

LAKE FOREST (14:25, Newmarket)

SOUTH DAKOTA SIOUX  (14:35, Doncaster)

FRANKNESS (15:00, Newmarket)

ADAYAR (15:35, Newmarket)