Shaquille shot to the sprinting summit at Newmarket as Julie Camacho's speedster doubled his big-race tally in the Pertemps Network July Cup Stakes.
The three-year-old was competing in handicap company on the weekend of the opening Classics of the season – but he has since announced himself as a star of the division and having taken the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, he took the sting out of his elders here on Newmarket's July course.
In scenes reminiscent of Ascot, Shaquille bunny-hopped as the gates opened, giving away plenty of ground.
However, while at Ascot Oisín Murphy had time to creep his way into contention, Shaquille was not hanging around on the wide expansive track at HQ on this occasion and pulled his way to the front to eyeball the front-running Art Power.
Shaquille is not for stopping in the feature Group 1 @PertempsJobs July Cup Stakes with the three-year-old producing a dominant performance in the hands of @Rossaryan15 for the @JCamachoRacing team 🏆 pic.twitter.com/oU1u9A6tmU
— Newmarket Racecourse (@NewmarketRace) July 15, 2023
With two furlongs to run Rossa Ryan let the 5-2 joint-favourite have his head and the duo soon set about putting the race to bed.
Although Henry Candy’s Run To Freedom and Ralph Beckett’s Kinross were breathing down his neck in the final furlong, Shaquille was never slowing down and kept on strongly in the closing stages to come home a length-and-a-half clear of the runner-up.
Shaquille had given his Yorkshire-based team of Camacho and her husband Steve Brown their first Group One victory at Ascot and after quickly doubling their tally, he provided his jockey with his finest hour, too, with Ryan, who only picked up the ride on Thursday, tasting top-level success for the first time.
It could be the Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock next.
City Of Troy sensational in Superlative Stakes
City Of Troy shot to the top of next year’s 2000 Guineas betting after confirming his class with a destructive display in the bet365 Superlative Stakes at Newmarket.
Trained by Aidan O’Brien, the regally-bred son of Triple Crown hero Justify looked a real talent on debut at the Curragh earlier this month and immediately took the jump up to Group Two level in his stride as he dazzled on Newmarket’s July course.
Having travelled like the consummate professional in the early stages of this seven-furlong event, Ryan Moore wasted little time in asking his mount to stride on passing the two-furlong marker, where the response was electric as he soon took lengths out of his rivals.
Moore kept up the momentum inside the final furlong as City Of Troy skipped further and further clear of his pursuers, with six and a half lengths separating the Ballydoyle youngster and Richard Hannon’s Haatem in second at the winning post.
Wow! 😲
— Newmarket Racecourse (@NewmarketRace) July 15, 2023
A breathtaking performance from City Of Troy as the Justify colt destroys the field in the Group 2 @bet365 Superlative Stakes, with the juvenile powering clear for a wide-margin success in the hands of Ryan Moore for trainer Aidan O'Brien 👏 pic.twitter.com/x7lGVegATm
His effort saw him leap over stablemate River Tiber at the head of the Classic market, and already-short post-race prices for the Guineas quickly came under pressure.
O’Brien said: "He’s unusual. Very unusual. It’s unbelievable, really. Dean [Gallagher] rides him out every day and has done a wonderful job. He’s just so natural. He has an unbelievable rhythm and an unbelievable mind. He looks a very special horse.
"He floats effortlessly. He is very happy to get a lead, very happy to go forward. Ryan said it never happened to him before what happened at the Curragh the last day going to the wall. He said he wasn’t going to get him pulled up.
"Even today, crossing the line, he was still heading off. He will be better on top of the ground – he’s a good-ground horse.
"I came here not to run him [because of the easy ground], but the lads said let him run, because we have to find out for the future because if the ground does turn what we can do. So, it was the right decision, I’m delighted for them.
"He’s after travelling now, that’s what we always try to do. He obviously has all the races now as he matures, the Futurity, the National Stakes, the Dewhurst, all those sort of races are open to him.
"Obviously, as you can see, he has loads of speed, so a mile should be no problem to him. The way he cruises, and with his action and everything. We know about Justifys, they are all Classic-bred horses. It is very exciting, really."
