King Hermes faces the Newmarket rise
Yoshito Yahagi believes his July Cup contender will be better off for having faced the July Course incline while Bathrat Leon builds towards Goodwood.
King Hermes got a taste of what to expect from Newmarket’s July course during a 45-minute introduction to the summer track’s tranquil environs on Tuesday, four days out from Europe’s premier 1200-metre contest, the Group One July Cup.
At the centre of the whole exercise was a five-furlong gallop up the straight to the winning post. And it was the ‘up’ that trainer Yoshito Yahagi was focused on after the Lord Kanaloa colt quickened under Ryusei Sakai to draw a length and a half clear of a Roger Varian-trained lead horse ridden by Jack Mitchell.
“I was a bit conscious that the horse lost his speed at the last furlong – maybe it was the hill – and I’m sure this work will make the horse understand how to run (here) on race day,” said Yahagi, via Kanichi Kusano of the Japan Racing Association (JRA), who interpreted portions of the trainer’s interview.
“My image of the ideal distance for the horse is seven furlongs but since you have the incline here, maybe reducing to the six furlongs will be good for the horse as well.”
King Hermes, winner of the Group Two Keio Hai Nisai Stakes over 1400 metres last season, has raced only five times and was last seen when sixth of 18 in the Group One NHK Mile Cup on May 8.