The famous silks of Peter Harris were carried to success in Saturday's Group 1 July Cup at Newmarket when Mill Stream led home a 1-2 for four-year-olds against the classic generation.
What an afternoon for William Buick and Jane Chapple-Hyam! ??
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) July 13, 2024
Mill Stream wins the My Pension Expert July Cup ??#ITVRacing | #JulyCup | @JaneChappleHyam pic.twitter.com/faPwcOsH6Y
Mill Stream is trained for Harris by Jane Chapple-Hyam and was not winning this out of turn, having won at Group 2 level earlier in the year and finished a good third in Group 1 company at Royal Ascot.
Ridden as usual by William Buick - who had four winners on the day - Mill Stream (11/1) collared the front-running Swingalong close home to win by a neck, the pair almost two lengths clear of Vandeek, who fared the best of the three-year-olds in third. The 11/8 favourite Inisherin finished in fifth and Aidan O'Brien's River Tiber was ninth of the 11 runners.
Buick said: “That bit of rain really suited him and I was always so comfortable. He is really genuine and puts his head out. It was well deserved.
“This is my first July Cup and I’m absolutely thrilled.”
Chapple-Hyam said: “It was hard to take third at Ascot but to come on and win at my local track is important – I am thrilled.
“We knew there was going to be a lot of speed upfront and so I just left it to William – he is the master and knows the horse well. We just thought they’d burn up and he just had to sit, wait and pounce, which he did.
“Today is ours. This is my home track and my favourite track so it’s good. His owner Peter Harris knows the game and I’m a very lucky lady to have him as an owner. He believes in this horse.
“We could now look at going to Deauville. If you look at his history a three-week gap between races suits him and the six and a half furlongs there will suit him.”
Karl Burke, trainer of runner-up Swingalong (22/1), said: “I am gutted that we got beat but she is such a game filly and wears her heart on her sleeve and everyone knows how she is going to run.
“I think there are two things – there was the extra rain which suited the winner and maybe if Art Power hadn’t taken us on. But they are things you can’t control and she has run a fantastic race.
“She will go to Haydock now for the Betfair Sprint Cup and we’ll pray it doesn’t rain as that could be a brilliant race for her.”
Simon Crisford said of Vandeek (4/1): “He has run a really good race. He was just lacking match practice and in effect that was like his first run of the season, which has caught him out.
“Missing Ascot was a huge problem for us as he has come here today in a championship race without any warm-up. He has acquitted himself with great credit and we’ll get busy for the rest of the season now. We will talk to Sheikh Khaled and think about the Prix Maurice de Gheest in a couple of weeks.”
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