How To Bet £20 on Saturday: A July Cup cracker at 80-1

There’s superb racing at every turn on Saturday with one of the biggest sprints of the year, the Darley July Cup at Newmarket, topping the bill.

Like a moth drawn to a flame, it’s the big handicaps that had me burning the midnight oil on Thursday night. The bet365 Bunbury Cup and John Smith’s Cup feature an aggregate of 42 runners and are always among the hardest puzzles of the year to solve, but I’ve never been able to resist trying to crack them.

Many jockeys are going to be in for a big pay day but, at the other end of the scale, spare a thought for 7lb apprentice Mollie Phillips.

I’m a big fan of Phillips and flagged her up as one to follow before she guided Our Man In Havana to victory at Chepstow last month. She’s continued to impress and, heading into Friday’s action, is chasing a fourth successive winner. Her past 26 rides have yielded nine winners, including at 22-1, and five seconds.

Anyway, I digress. On one of the highest-profile days of the year, she has one ride at 8.20pm Hamilton Park aboard a horse (Able Love) of limited ability who has never started shorter than 125-1 and who, in future, will be able to race off a 5lb lower mark than his present humble rating of 45.

The prospects of the pair making any impression look slim but Phillips, who can ride at feather-weights, is one to follow. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before she makes a splash at a big Saturday meeting.

He was sent off at 4-1 to extend his winning sequence to seven in the Hardwicke Stakes last time but the race didn’t pan out for him and, in any case, I’m not sure the relatively short straight at Ascot was ever going to suit.

Ilaraab has a great attitude but he lacks instant acceleration and looks to need plenty of time to go through the gears. That was the case when he won on his return over 1m4f at York in May, when he did all his best work at the finish.

Stepping up to almost 1m6f promises to play to his strengths and, on a track where he is 2-2, he is well worth another chance. Hukum, who finished ahead of him in the Hardwicke, wears a first-time tongue-tie, while Fujaira Prince’s previous wins when fresh have been in lesser races.

I’m pretty sure this handsome son of Dubawi has all the ability in the world but that waywardness has usually prevented him from showing it.

The team at Godolphin have given him every chance to prove himself, no doubt with a future stallion career in mind, but they’ve run out patience and he’s been gelded since blotting his copybook once too often in Dubai last time.

This operation does not help all horses reach their potential but let’s hope it does with Al Suhail because the mile division needs some new faces and his rout at The July Meeting this time last year lingers in the memory.

I’d always be wary of backing him at short odds but, fresh and on his first start since the operation, he’s well worth risking at a double-digit price with trip and ground in his favour. It was a bonus, to me, that Charlie Appleby gave Lydia Hislop an upbeat bulletin about him at Newmarket on Friday, suggesting he would be "bang there if bringing his A-Game".

There’s a lack of front-runners in this year’s Bunbury Cup and, as a consequence, I immediately put a line through those who are habitually held up.

Shine So Bright, drawn in six on the stands’ side, usually goes forward and that means those drawn low could be given more of a tow than those on the far side. That increases confidence in Motakhayyel, a class act who looks capable of defying top weight under Frankie Dettori.

He’s only 4lb winner than when a decisive winner of the race last year, when never far from the thick of the action, and he confirmed his effectiveness at the July Course when chasing home Glorious Journey in the Group Three Criterion Stakes here last time. He might have given the winner even more to think about that day had he not had to race on the flank.

Last year he obliged at 5-1, yet for some reason he’s double those odds on this occasion.

He’s finished sixth, third and eighth in the past three renewals of the John Smith’s Cup and is back for a fourth attempt.

I’m sure most will put him in the category reserved for runners who are too exposed. However, the dual course winner has slipped back to the mark he won off at the Ebor meeting two years ago, and is well drawn. In addition he is reunited with the excellent Callum Rodriguez and the yard of Keith Dalgleish has been in good form all year.

What’s The Story didn’t fire over a mile on firm ground in the Royal Hunt Cup last time but he’s the type to bounce back quickly and he was a big eye-catcher off a 3lb higher mark here on his penultimate start, having previously chased home the smart Top Rank at Doncaster in Listed company.

It’s probably expecting too much for him to win but he definitely has what it takes to be in the mix and Sky Bet, who quote him at 25-1, are offering seven places for each-way players.

This is a deep renewal of the July Cup but the likely quick ground and draw can possibly help make it easier to solve.

Underfoot conditions may be a bit too lively for Art Power, Dragon Symbol and Glen Shiel, whose best efforts have been on softer ground, while those drawn low, like Starman and Creative Force, could be at a disadvantage because most of the early pace looks among those drawn middle to high. The race may just develop away from them.

The defending champ, Oxted, has plenty going for him but that’s reflected by the betting and, at outlandish odds, I’d rather risk Summerghand, whose exploits in big-field sprint handicaps show he is in his element when swooping late in races run at a frenetic gallop.

I imagine he didn’t handle the deep ground when failing to make an impact in the Diamond Jubilee last time and, before that, prominent tactics had backfired at York. But it was less than three months ago that he beat Oxted fair and square in the Abernant Stakes, and it’s worth remembering that last year he came within an inch of landing both the Wokingham and Stewards’ Cup off lofty marks.

His draw, in 13, could be ideal and, at 80-1 with Ladbrokes, I’ll have much worse ideas. Sky Bet go half that price, but are offering six places for each-way backers.

50p Each-Way Accumulator plus

2.20 York Ilaraab £3 win at a general 13-2

3.00 Ascot: Al Suhail £3 win at a general 10-1

3.50 Newmarket: Motakhayyel £1 win and £2 each-way at a general 10-1

4.05 York: What’s The Story £2 each-way at 25-1 with Sky Bet (who offer seven places)

4.25 Newmarket: Summerghand £1 win and £1.50 each-way at 80-1 with Ladbrokes