July Cup Betting Preview

Wiltshire trainer Richard Hannon hasn't had much ammunition to go to war with in the July Cup over recent years, but in the shape of GALEOTA he has an outstanding candidate for this year's renewal on Thursday July 7. I strongly believe that the bookies have grossly underrated his chance here by marking him up as a 7-1 chance behind the two lightly raced and improving sorts, Iffraaj and Soldier's Tale, who are generally priced-up at around the 7-2 and 9-2 marks respectively.Don't get me wrong, it would be folly to undermine the chances of that duo, both of whom were impressive last time out, but neither have achieved anything near to what Galeota did in the Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot at York. In that highly competitive Group One sprint, the son of Mujadil showed tremendous early pace and looked to have the race sewn up a furlong out, but was collared close home by Hong Kong raider Cape Of Good Hope, eventually going down by a head.Absolutely no caste was last in defeat there. In fact, despite being beaten, Galeota covered himself in glory, as in Cape Of Good Hope he was taking on a top-class, battle-hardened sprinter, who is four years his senior. It is to Galeota's credit that he kept on all the way to the line and had the other 13 runners well and truly cooked.Something that I find refreshing about Galeota is that he is as genuine as the day is long - he has yet to run a bad race in nine career starts - and he acts on any going: the going was good-to-soft when he won the Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury last year, while the ground was very fast at Royal Ascot last time, so there will be no problems with regards to underfoot conditions come next Thursday on the July course.I can see Galeota bursting out of the stalls and making all to win - and I'm confident he'll do just that. But I'd also recommend a small saver of Henry Cecil's CAMACHO, because at 10-1 he is simply too tempting to omit from calculations.The stoutly bred son of Danehill gave subsequent Listed winner Nufoos 5lb and a cosy two-and-a-half length beating at Haydock in May, before run a cracking race in defeat when runner-up to Proclamation in the seven-furlong Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot at York next time.The three-year-old possesses bags of natural pace and was travelling best off all a furlong out in the Jersey but found the finishing kick of Proclamation too hot to handle. It is worth noting how far clear of the rest the winner, Camacho and the third home there, Home Affairs, were, which suggests that they are three colts out of the top drawer. Furthermore, this drop back to six-furlongs will suit Camacho, who could well be better than we have seen thus far given that he's had just four career starts.Iffraaj has yet to taste defeat in three outings so far this term and followed up his Victoria Cup victory by readily landing the Wokingham at Royal Ascot at York. That was an excellent performance and, although this represents a big step up in class, the Michael Jarvis-trained sprinter is clearly going places and is bound to have a say in the finish.Soldier's Tale is also firmly on the upgrade and cannot be dismissed lightly after comfortably landing a Group Three at Newcastle on Northumberland Plate day. However, my concern about Jeremy Noseda's charge is that he seems best suited by cut in the ground, which he's highly unlikely to get on July Cup day. That factor also casts a shadow of doubt over Somnus, who I believe is vulnerable against the less exposed types.Betting verdict: 1pt win Galeota @ 7/1 (all firms) 0.50pts e/w Camacho @ 10/1 (Hills, Coral, VC Blue Square)