Newmarket July Cup Tips: Hamza

The July Cup (3.50 Newmarket) is an odd race because several of the protagonists are running in unfamiliar circumstances.

Sole Power, Shea Shea and Gale Force Ten are not specialist 6f sprinters and their trainers are hoping their class will get them through.

Shameexpress, Krypton Factor, Havelock and Zanetto are all opposable after they ran mediocre races at Royal Ascot; whereas Lethal Force got the run of the race in the Diamond Jubilee and was flattered by the result.

Quite quickly, we are left with only a handful of horses and from the shortlist I’m most excited by Hamza.

It is often mentioned how small the difference is between top handicappers and Group horses and Hamza looks like he could bridge the gap.

I was most impressed by his Newmarket win back in May when he demolished a good field of handicappers by 2.75 lengths. He earned a Group-level speed rating that day and he proved it was no fluke by beating the smart Heeraat over 5f at Beverley, a trip that doesn’t really suit him.

Unbeaten in two starts at Newmarket, over both courses, he likes the track and is at his best racing on good to firm ground. Add the possibility of getting a soft lead and Hamza becomes a realistic winner and a good bet at 16/1 (Bet365). 

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Back Hamza with Bet365as they are best price and offer Best Odds Guaranteed. If the starting price (SP) is bigger than the current price, you get paid at the bigger SP.

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This race is a Bet365 feature race: Back any single winner at 4/1 or more on a live Channel 4 race and you can have a free bet to the same stake (£50 max.) on the next Channel 4 race.