Star Witness had a useful feel of the Newmarket July course on Tuesday ahead of the final assignment of his racing career.
Danny O’Brien’s Australian sprinter will return home to stand at Widden Stud following his run in Saturday’s Darley July Cup and was given a spin over the final five furlongs (1000m) of the course under his regular rider Steven Arnold.
Arnold, who was the former jockey of So You Think and successful on his first British ride aboard Scenic Blast in the 2009 King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot, was in the plate for Star Witness’ two previous starts in this country.
These both came at last month’s Royal meeting, starting off with a second-place finish to Prohibit in the King’s Stand over five furlongs.
Four days later, over the July Cup trip of six furlongs (1200m), he took third spot to Society Rock in the Golden Jubilee when connections felt the ground had become too soft for him.
“I was happy,” Arnold said after jumping off the chestnut.
“He doesn’t seem to have lost anything since his run at Ascot and seems to be holding his form well, which is obviously important. If he repeats his run at Ascot he’ll be competitive.
“It’s different to race pressure, so you never quite know, but he handled the track no problem at all.
“There’s a steep uphill lay, but for the first couple of furlongs they sort of go downhill and I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t quite as testing as Ascot was.
“I rode here two years ago, it’s a six-furlong straight race with a few undulations, but I’ll just ride the horse where he’s comfortable.”
Australian raiders have fared well in the two Royal Ascot sprints with regularity in recent years but the July Cup has not been so rewarding, with even the great Choisir failing to add to his double Ascot haul when finishing second to Oasis Dream in 2003.
“An Australian-trained horse has never won the July Cup, so we’re going in there very aware it has been a bridge too far for the Australians in the past, but naturally it’s a challenge and we’d like to be the first to win it,” O’Brien said.
“Actually, he’s every bit as good as he was on Jubilee day. That (King’s Stand) was part of his preparation for the Jubilee and obviously we were still hoping to win that race, but he came out of the King’s Stand in great order and ran very well on the Saturday without conditions really being in his favour.
“He’s had three weeks since and really enjoyed the environment. He certainly hasn’t gone backwards.”
Star Witness is available at 6-1 with Paddy Power and William Hill for Saturday’s race.
PA AAP TURF
