July Cup 2020: Can Golden Horde run to victory?
The July Cup will offer a prize purse of £500,000 this month with 26 horses racing to win the more than £283,000 paid out to the winner of the race. The July Cup is one of the most prestigious and lucrative races in British horse racing. It is also one of the marquee races of the British flat racing schedule. In addition, the race meeting attracts some of the best horse in the flat racing arena. The July Cup 2020 is one of the biggest races on the calendar and leads into next season’s jumps extravaganza, the Grand National 2021, which will once again be one of the most-watched festivals in the world.
The 2020 edition of the July Cup will be run at on the July Course at Newmarket over a distance of six furlongs. With many of the race’s winners being proclaimed the “champion sprinter in Europe”, there will be plenty of trainers seeking a win from their top horses.
Golden Horde heads to Newmarket the favourite
The 2018 and 2019 July Cup races were both won by trainer Aidan O’Brien. The Irish race trainer paired his two winners – US Navy Flag and Ten Sovereigns – with jockey Ryan Moore.
This year’s favourite to win the July Cup is Clive Cox’s Golden Horde. The three-year-old colt goes into the race with a strong record of three wins. The most recent victory for Golden Horde came on June 19th at Ascot at 5/1 odds. Golden Horde’s three wins have all been over a distance of six furlongs making the colt a strong favourite to win at Newmarket. Golden Horde’s antepost odds heading to the July 9th race are 3/1 and top the odds list at leading sportsbooks.
Golden Horde heads to Newmarket following a brilliant win in the Commonwealth Cup in June. The three-year-old Cox trained colt staked a claim for sprinting honours at the Commonwealth Cup with a strong length-and-a-half victory over Kimari. The race win was just Golden Horde’s first start since September 2019 when the colt finished second at the Middle Park Stakes. The Middle Park Stakes were held at Newmarket – just like the July Cup – so focused punters will be aware of the colt’s previous failure at the course.
Can Cox send out a winner at the July Cup?
Since 2013, Cox has won the July Cup on two occasions. The trainer won the cup in 2013 with Lethal Force ridden by Adam Kirby and followed it up with a second race win in 2017 with Harry Angel. Kirby was the jockey on Harry Angel just as he had been on Lethal Force four years prior.
Denis Hogan’s Sceptical will be a strong challenger to Golden Horde for the July Cup. Sceptical heads to Newmarket on the back of four career wins although the colt finished third in Ascot’s Diamond Jubilee Stakes in June. Kevin Ryan’s Hello Youmzain is also at 5/1 odds to win the race – the same antepost odds as Sceptical. Hello Youmzain won the Diamond Jubilee Stakes out running Sceptical for the race win.
The July Cup 2020 will be one of the most-watched horse races of the summer. The lucrative meet will hand out £500,000 in prize money and propel the winner to new levels of glory.
