Hugo Palmer: I think he goes here with a very good chance

He’s got a lovely draw in stall 3, and I’m really relieved about that as I didn’t want him stuck out wide. For a horse who’s always been trained locally, he’s only run at Chester once and he didn’t run very well, but I suspect that was nothing to do with Chester. You need to be able to travel well at Chester, so being a Group 2 winner over 6f, you’d hope he can get into a nice rhythm over 7f round there.

He’s never won a race over 7f, but he’s always shaped like he’d get it, and if he’s going to stay the trip anywhere, it’s going to be at Chester. I’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t look like the winner with a furlong to run, and then we go into unchartered territory, but it would be wonderful to think he could win over 7f as it will open up so many more options for him.

July Cup thoughts

As you’d expect for one of the biggest sprint races of the year, it’s very competitive, and it looks a very interesting contest. It is quite extraordinary that at 9.45am yesterday morning, there wasn’t a jockey up on the favourite for the July Cup, but that’s just a result of the massive amount of racing stuck on a Saturday. The pressure that trainers are under trying to get the right people on their horses with all these meetings is quite incredible.

Shaquille has been an absolute revelation this season, and it always used to be very difficult for three-year-olds to win the July Cup, but we’ve actually seen quite a few in recent years. The three-year-old sprint programme does now lend itself to being able to produce these horses and allow them to progress through the grades.

It was remarkable the way he won the Commonwealth Cup as it showed he’s not just a one-trick pony who needs to be handed a soft lead. To come from behind and beat them all the way he did was a very impressive performance, and while you’d have to respect Little Big Bear and Azure Blue, I do think Shaquille sets the standard on that win last time.

Hugo

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