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July sees Newmarket Racecourse play host to one of the summer highlights on the flat racing scene as the track stages the three-day July Festival. Running from a Thursday to Saturday, the meeting features 10 contests rated at Listed level or above, headlined by the Group 1 duo of the Falmouth Stakes on the opening day and the July Cup on the concluding Saturday.
It is the six-furlong July Cup for which the meeting is best known, as the three-year-olds tackle their elders in a battle of speed. Two days before the meeting hits that crescendo, the two-year-olds tackle the same track and trip in the July Stakes. A Group 2 affair offering £100,000 (2024) in prize money, the 2024 edition was claimed in impressive style by the Aidan O’Brien-trained Whistlejacket, who bounced back from defeat in the Norfolk Stakes to show his rivals a clean pair of heels.
Whistlejacket arrived at Newmarket with a tall reputation and, in landing a first Group race success, has now gone some way towards delivering on the hype. But what can we expect the future to hold for this son of No Nay Never? Does the July Stakes most often go to a precocious youngster for whom this victory is a career highlight? Or do the winners tend to progress to bigger and better things? Here, we look back at the subsequent exploits of the past five winners as a guide.
2023 Winner: Jasour (Trained by Clive Cox)
- Group Race Wins – 2024 Commonwealth Cup Trial Stakes (Group 3)
Most associated with sprinting success, it was a little surprising to learn that Jasour was handing Clive Cox a first July Stakes win when coming home two lengths clear in 2023. Group 1 disappointment followed that success, as the colt trailed home 13 lengths adrift of the winner in both the Prix Morny and Middle Park Stakes.
Returning to the track as a three-year-old, Jasour bounced right back to form to easily win the Commonwealth Cup Trial at Ascot before running with credit to finish third in the Commonwealth Cup itself at the Royal Meeting. Seemingly over whatever ailed him at the back end of 2023, he looked set to take in the season’s remaining Group 1 sprint events at the time of writing – beginning with the July Cup.
2022 Winner: Persian Force (Trained by Richard Hannon)
- Group Race Wins – None
Arriving at Newmarket following a runners-up effort in the Commonwealth Cup, this Amo Racing colt lived up to market expectations when landing this in effortless style at odds of 1/2. Stepped up to Group 1 company for his remaining juvenile starts, he didn’t manage to get his head in front but finished second in the Phoenix Stakes and Prix Morny,
We will never know how Persian Force would have fared as a three-year-old. In an age that places such a premium on speed and precocity, he retired to a life at stud at the end of his two-year-old season.
2021 Winner: Lusail (Trained by Richard Hannon)
- Group Race Wins – 2021 Gimcrack Stakes
12 months before the success of Persian Force, the Richard Hannon/Mehmas combo was again to the fore at HQ. Arriving at Newmarket with only Maiden and Novice wins to his name, Lusail took his form to new heights when hanging on by a head. Proving that to be no fluke, he followed up in more impressive style in the Gimcrack Stakes at York.
Kept in training and racing on through 2022 and 2023, Lusail never won again despite running with credit on many occasions – sixth in the 2,000 Guineas, second in the St James’ Palace Stakes, and third in the Prix Jean Prat. Like Persian Force, Lusail is now enjoying a life at stud.
2020 Winner: Tactical (Trained by Andrew Balding)
- Group Race Wins – None
Racing in the colours of The Queen, Andrew Balding’s Tactical recorded a famous success when powering home to claim this prize under William Buick. In common with others on this list, the Prix Morny and Middle Park Stakes then proved too tall an order, as did the Dewhurst Stakes on his final start at two.
A Listed win in the Free Handicap on his three-year-old debut suggested a big season may lie ahead. However, that was as good as it got for Tactical. Unlike Persian Force and Lusail, Tactical remains active at the track. Now based with Julie Camacho, he can be spotted plying his trade in handicap company but has remained winless since 2021 despite dropping to Class 4 level.
2019 Winner: Royal Lytham (Trained by Aidan O’Brien)
- Group Race Wins – None
An unlucky in running sixth in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot, Royal Lytham rebounded to get up by a short head in a thrilling edition of this event. Only third next time out in the Phoenix Stakes, it was easy to forgive that effort considering his saddle slipped when leaving the stalls.
Fast forward to his three-year-old campaign, and it soon became clear that Royal Lytham had been overtaken by his contemporaries. Three starts yielding eighth, ninth, and fifth-placed efforts in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, the Commonwealth Cup, and the Lacken Stakes. Now standing at the Irish Emerald Stud, he is yet to sire a horse of note.
Whistlejacket to Buck the Trend?
History would suggest we shouldn’t expect too much from Whistlejacket, despite the visual impression of his win. Aidan O’Brien has won this three times in total, with the underwhelming Royal Lytham, and Ivan Denisovich, who won one of 11 subsequent outings (a one-mile Listed event at the Curragh), preceding Whistlejacket.
In being trained by O’Brien, sired by No Nay Never, out of a Bering mare, and very quick as a juvenile, the horse to whom he bears the most resemblance is Little Big Bear. That winner of the 2022 Windsor Castle Stakes did go on to score at the top level when routing the opposition in the Phoenix Stakes, before adding a win in the Group 2 Sandy Lane Stakes and a runners-up effort in the Commonwealth Cup to his CV as a three-year-old.