Friday 2nd July 2010
Up for the Cup!
STAFF at trainer Jeremy Noseda’s Shalfleet base are all dressed up and ready to hit Newmarket’s July Course this Friday as their stable star Fleeting Spirit bids to become the first horse to win back-to-back Darley July Cups since Right Boy achieved the feat in 1959.
The flying filly scorched to a dazzling victory in the £400,000 Group 1 sprint 12 months and belief is growing that she can put on a repeat performance.
She returned to action for 2010 with a satisfactory fourth-placed finish in the Group 1 Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Noseda is expecting Fleeting Spirit to significantly improve for that run and all at Shalfleet have their fingers crossed in anticipation of another golden day at Newmarket.
For Matthew Harvey, 31, victory would taste particularly sweet as he is the stable groom charged with looking after the five-year-old on a day-to-day basis.
“She knows she is pretty special,” he said as he posed with Fleeting Spirit and fellow Shalfleet employee Jenny Howson.
“She has a tremendous amount of self-confidence – she has got that attitude that a lot of the good horses have.
“She is a really classy filly with a high cruising speed and an electric turn of foot.”
Harvey adds that Fleeting Spirit is ‘very pleasant to be around’ and that nothing fazes her.
No doubt there will always be a special place for her in his heart after her heroics on the July Course at last year’s Champagne Lanson July Festival.
He said: “She is by far and away the best horse I’ve ever looked after and on a personal level, last year’s Darley July Cup was very special as it was the first time that I’d ever looked after a Group 1 winner.
“If she were to win again this year it would be tremendously satisfying. I hope she runs her race…I’m fairly confident she will put up a bold display.”
Friday's fashion focus is on the best dressed couple with an amazing cruise awaiting the winners. Any smartly dressed couple can enter for free at the "Fashion at the Festival" marquee, with the first prize a luxury three week cruise from Southampton to San Francisco, courtesy of Premier Travel, including the daylight navigation of the Panama Canal and stops in exotic locations like Madeira, St Lucia and Acapulco.
Tickets are still available for all three enclosures on Friday, as they are for the first two days of the Champagne Lanson July Festival on Wednesday and Thursday. Premier Enclosure £35 per day and Grandstand & Paddock £22 per day with generous concessions at the gate (subject to availability) for Senior Citizens, NUS card holders and anyone aged 18-24. The Garden Enclosure is also open on all three days, priced at £8 per day. Under 18's are admitted free to all three enclosures.
