Next Stop July Cup For Brando

[Wandering Eyes]

After a recent confidence boosting win in a conditions race at Hamilton, Kevin Ryan’s admirable sprinter Brando (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) will bid to go one better than last year’s second in the G1 Darley July Cup at Newmarket two weeks from this Saturday. Angie Bailey’s 7-year-old skipped Royal Ascot on purpose and having operated so effectively on the July course in particular, connections were keen to give Brando the best opportunity of adding another Group 1 to his CV after running so well in the last two editions of the Newmarket feature. “It was always the plan to run Brando in the July Cup so it’s all systems go,” said Adam Ryan, son and assistant to his father Kevin. “We were never going to take him to Royal Ascot – it’s quite hard for these sprinters to be at their best for both Ascot and the July Cup and he’s got such good form at the two Newmarket tracks that it made sense to take him there as a fresh horse. For some reason he enjoys running downhill. We can’t put our finger on it, but he loves both Newmarket courses,” he added. Victory at Newmarket would push Brando’s earnings past the £1-million mark and he has been a remarkable horse for connections, this being his sixth season of competitive action. “Brando’s been placed in the July Cup twice before so if he were to win it this time it would be fantastic for us and would live long in the memory. He’s a total gentleman at home and a bit of a yard favourite. He’s an absolute saint and everyone loves him. He’s got form on all sorts of ground. As he gets older maybe he prefers a bit of juice in the ground but I wouldn’t be worried about fast ground – the main thing with him is to have a truly-run race and you’ll certainly get that at Group 1 level,” Ryan said.

The post Next Stop July Cup For Brando appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

View the full article