‘Every Dog Has His Day’: Callan Steers No Half Measures To July Cup Shock

[Wandering Eyes]

After all the will-they or won't-theys leading up to Saturday's G1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai July Cup, it came down to the hardened sprinters and a hardened jockey with No Half Measures (Cable Bay) springing a 66-1 upset under Neil Callan. Campaigned mainly over five furlongs so far, last year's G3 World Trophy winner relished the step up to six to overwhelm Big Mojo (Mohaather) in the last half a furlong and provide Richard Hughes with a first Group 1 winner as a trainer.

“Richard told me she's very genuine and better with a bit of dig in the ground, but that it was an open race and they had to have a go,” commented the winner's journeyed jockey, who had ridden successfully in Hong Kong and had recently been served with a ban by the BHA for social media comments. “I left her alone for as long as possible and when I gave her a flick she accelerated. I'm getting into the twilight of my career, but the one thing I have is a lot of self-belief and every dog has his day.”

Drawn widest away from the stand's rail, which seemed to be carrying a bias at this meeting, the four-year-old was handed an ideal lead by the Jersey runner-up Spy Chief (Kingman) with Notable Speech (Dubawi) and co waiting to join battle on the other side. That 85-40 favourite looked to be going best inside the last two furlongs, but as his run flattened out No Half Measures emerged to power past the 12-1 shot Big Mojo and prevail by a neck, with the 40-1 shot Run To Freedom (Muhaarar) completing the shock tricast 1 3/4 lengths away.

66/1 winner!

NO HALF MEASURES WINS THE @ABE_Dubai JULY CUP@NewmarketRace pic.twitter.com/0aek58rF62

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) July 12, 2025

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