Thursday’s racing is headlined by the start of Newmarket’s July Festival. Three days of action that culminates in the feature race, the July Cup, the first day is headlined by the Group 2 Princess Of Wales’s Tattersalls Stakes. We’ll have horse racing tips for all the action, including the races on ITV Racing.
Leopardstown also hosts a fine card on Thursday evening, with the Group 3 Stanerra Stakes the feature contest. There is also the “Nasrullah” Premier Handicap and Willie Mullins looks set to have the favourite. It’ll be ridden by Hollie Doyle, which furthers the intrigue, and you can find all the details below.
Although best known for his exploits in the National Hunt sphere, Willie Mullins has a fine record on the level. He’ll look to continue that with Baby Zeus, who was previously trained by Ger Lyons.
A debut winner for Lyons back in 2019, he ran to a fair level in five subsequent starts, albeit failing to add to his tally. The switch to Mullins clearly did him the world of good, however, as he was a winner on seasonal debut at the Curragh in May.
His first start for 273 days, he was slowly away and perhaps took up the running too soon. He showed a very willing attitude, however, and fended off his rivals in determined fashion under regular rider Colin Keane.
Going up nine pounds for that success demands another big step forward, but that can be expected on just his second start of the campaign. A switch to better going could be another positive, given that he’s run well on both his previous good ground starts.
Keane will be riding for Ger Lyons tomorrow evening and that paves the way for Hollie Doyle to pick up the ride. She’s enjoyed success on Mullins’s horses in the past, riding True Self to victory at Riyadh back in February. She’ll be hoping this lightly-raced four-year-old can provide her with another memorable day.
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