Latest news with #AlBastiEquiworld
Powys County Times
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Powys County Times
Notable Speech handed York target after July Cup eclipse
Charlie Appleby may seek a happy medium with Notable Speech after his experimental sprint run in the Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai July Cup Stakes ended in defeat. Last season's 2000 Guineas winner has got his head in front only once since that Classic success and has seemed to be faltering towards the end of his one-mile assignments this season. He was therefore scaled back to six furlongs to see if that would trigger a return to form and though the distance posed an unknown, he was still well fancied as the 85-40 favourite under William Buick. The Group One contest was not to be the scene of his comeback, however, and he ultimately finished fifth to leave his trainer pondering a stab at seven furlongs next. He said: 'Will genuinely sounded disappointed, he said he'd thought he'd done everything right and then at the business end he just didn't finish. 'We've been seeing the same thing at a mile so maybe we've got a look a bit harder at him, I don't know. 'It was always going to be hard to jump to make an assessment after his first time sprinting at this level. 'I see no reason not to meet halfway at seven (furlongs) and go to York, which was always our plan. 'If the horse comes out of it well, and I see no reason why he won't, we'll head to the City of York Stakes.' Of stablemate Symbol Of Honour, who was eighth under Oisin Murphy, he added: 'Symbol Of Honour really doesn't like the Rowley Mile, we're nowhere near the Rowley Mile but he still wasn't handling the track. 'Oisin still said to me that he's a Group One sprinter in the making so he'll carry on sprinting, he'll go to Haydock or somewhere like that. A slick track will suit him perfectly.' Connections of the Mick Appleby-trained runner-up Big Mojo were thrilled with their colt's effort and are planning a step back to five furlongs for the remainder of the campaign. 'I'm absolutely delighted with him. We've tried him over six this year, we've been brave,' said owner Paul Teasdale. 'Today was always going to be a tough ask but he did fantastically well. I'm really proud of him, I thought he'd just about got it but not quite, I'm still delighted. 'The King George, the Nunthorpe, the Flying Five – we're in all of them so we've got some options. 'He travels so well, he can withstand the pace and he's got a great finish in him. 'He won the Molecomb last year, he'd be delighted to go back to Goodwood. 'He's really maturing into a top-class horse.' Aidan O'Brien's Whistlejacket, who was well supported in the lead up to the race, finished 12th at odds of 13-2 and may be due an easy few weeks after he was out of luck at Royal Ascot too. The trainer said: 'It was a good, strong pace and he got back a little bit. We'll see where we'll go, we might give him a little break and freshen him up for the autumn. 'It didn't work the last day and it didn't work today, so that's what we might do. A little break and we might have him back for Haydock or something like that.'
ITV News
12-07-2025
- Sport
- ITV News
No Half Measures stuns July Cup rivals
Richard Hughes' No Half Measures ran out a shock winner of the Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai July Cup Stakes at Newmarket. At 66-1 she was a real outsider in the Group One contest, and from stall 15 she kept out of trouble under Neil Callan on the far side of the track. As the six-furlong event reached the business end she was picking off rivals and after locking horns with Big Mojo, it was No Half Measures who came out on top by a neck with a further length and three-quarters back to Run To Freedom in third. Hughes steered Oasis Dream to victory in the 2003 July Cup and after taking up training in 2015, No Half Measures is his first Group One winner as a handler. An emotional Hughes said: 'I've just got a bear hug off William Buick and he's cut my lip! 'It's brilliant. Disappointments when you're training are very hard and the highs don't meet the lows. We fancied the filly yesterday Mood Queen and she finished last, which was excruciating, and the highs aren't even high enough. 'It's an up and down game, but I'm coping better with it now than I used to. It's been a tough enough ride to get to here, but I'm definitely appreciating more now than when I started. 'I didn't appreciate all those good horses when I was riding, I just took it for granted and I was very lucky to be riding for Richard Hannon and having the Khalid Abdullah job – I was privileged to be riding good horses every year. 'We get a good horse through the yard now and again and I'm trying to mind it like a baby and I'm watching it every day in case it goes wrong because you probably only have one or two bullets. In Hannon's, if one broke you'd get on another one next day or I'd get another ride. There was a flow of horses and I found it very easy. 'I was a little bit naive when I started training – I thought if I bought 20 horses one of them was going to be good. Then I bought 20 the following year and still no good one. 'This is harder, but more rewarding for sure.' Of gaining his first Group One as a trainer, he added: 'I've got the monkey off my back that's for sure and I can retire now saying I rode a July Cup winner and trained one, so that's really nice. 'Of course I want more, it's my nature as I'm very competitive, but if you don't have the horses you can't train them.' No Half Measures won a handicap at this meeting last year before graduating to Group Three and Listed success, but Hughes admitted he had not expected to hit the mark at the highest level. He said: 'She won here last year in a handicap and when Ryan (Moore) got off her I asked him if we'd get a bit of black type and he said 'she's better than that', which is something Ryan never says! He's a realist, so I was quite surprised by that. 'We plotted to get our black type and we got it and she's done nothing but improve. 'There was very little pressure today really. At halfway I thought she was going OK and then I just held my head because I couldn't believe what was happening! 'I just thought if she's going to get caught she's going to caught, because they normally do, but I would have been pleased even with second or third, so to win is just a bonus.'
RTÉ News
12-07-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
No Half Measures pulls off shock in July Cup at Newmarket
Richard Hughes' No Half Measures ran out a shock winner of the Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai July Cup Stakes at Newmarket. At 66-1 she was a real outsider in the Group One contest, and from stall 15 she kept out of trouble under Neil Callan on the far side of the track. As the six-furlong event reached the business end she was picking off rivals and after locking horns with Big Mojo, it was No Half Measures who came out on top by a neck with a further length and three-quarters back to Run To Freedom in third. Hughes steered Oasis Dream to victory in the 2003 July Cup and after taking up training in 2015, No Half Measures is his first Group One winner as a handler. No Half Measures captures the @ABE_Dubai July Cup for @RHughesracing 🏆 — Newmarket Racecourse (@NewmarketRace) July 12, 2025 An emotional Hughes said: "I've just got a bear hug off William Buick and he's cut my lip! "It's brilliant. Disappointments when you're training are very hard and the highs don't meet the lows. We fancied the filly yesterday Mood Queen and she finished last, which was excruciating, and the highs aren't even high enough. "It's an up and down game, but I'm coping better with it now than I used to. It's been a tough enough ride to get to here, but I'm definitely appreciating more now than when I started. "I didn't appreciate all those good horses when I was riding, I just took it for granted and I was very lucky to be riding for Richard Hannon and having the Khalid Abdullah job – I was privileged to be riding good horses every year. "We get a good horse through the yard now and again and I'm trying to mind it like a baby and I'm watching it every day in case it goes wrong because you probably only have one or two bullets. In Hannon's, if one broke you'd get on another one next day or I'd get another ride. There was a flow of horses and I found it very easy. "I was a little bit naive when I started training – I thought if I bought 20 horses one of them was going to be good. Then I bought 20 the following year and still no good one. "This is harder, but more rewarding for sure." Of gaining his first Group One as a trainer, he added: "I've got the monkey off my back that's for sure and I can retire now saying I rode a July Cup winner and trained one, so that's really nice. "Of course I want more, it's my nature as I'm very competitive, but if you don't have the horses you can't train them." No Half Measures won a handicap at this meeting last year before graduating to Group Three and Listed success, but Hughes admitted he had not expected to hit the mark at the highest level. He said: "She won here last year in a handicap and when Ryan (Moore) got off her I asked him if we'd get a bit of black type and he said 'she's better than that', which is something Ryan never says! He's a realist, so I was quite surprised by that. "We plotted to get our black type and we got it and she's done nothing but improve. "There was very little pressure today really. At halfway I thought she was going OK and then I just held my head because I couldn't believe what was happening! "I just thought if she's going to get caught she's going to caught, because they normally do, but I would have been pleased even with second or third, so to win is just a bonus."
Powys County Times
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Powys County Times
No Half Measures stuns July Cup rivals
Richard Hughes' No Half Measures ran out a shock winner of the Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai July Cup Stakes at Newmarket. At 66-1 she was a real outsider in the Group One contest, and from stall 15 she kept out of trouble under Neil Callan on the far side of the track. As the six-furlong event reached the business end she was picking off rivals and after locking horns with Big Mojo, it was No Half Measures who came out on top by a neck with a further length and three-quarters back to Run To Freedom in third.
Daily Mirror
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Aidan O'Brien reacts after hot favourite Italy suffers shock defeat at Newmarket
Italy (4-6f) found Charlie Appleby-trained Saba Desert too strong in the bet365 Superlative Stakes. Other winners on the day were More Thunder and 66-1 chance No Half Measures in the feature Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai July Cup Aidan O'Brien was remaining upbeat after a shock defeat for 4-6 favourite Italy in the Group Two bet365 Superlative Stakes. The hotpot was the shortest price of all runners contesting seven contests on the final day of Newmarket's July Festival. Italy arrived at the course after winning a maiden event at Leopardstown in good style and was racing away from home for the first time. And O'Brien felt the 200,000 guineas Wootton Bassett colt came up short on the experience front, as he was passed by Saba Desert who continued a great week for Charlie Appleby and Will Buick. "We were very happy - he was a bit babyish and green," the Ballydoyle trainer reported. "We thought that might be. So he will go back to the Futurity (Group Two at the Curragh in August) probably now. If he had won today he would have had to go into a Group One next so it's better as he's a baby and he came (here for experience). "He hasn't been worked up at all (at home) really. We will look forward to him the next day." Saba Desert (6-1) fly-leapt as he exited the stalls and finished strongly in what turned out to be a messy renewal. Long-time leader Venetian Lace drifted left when coming off the bridle and carried her across to the winner's stablemate Wild Desert, forcing Italy across too. The winner came down the stands side and placings remained unaltered after a stewards enquiry was called, when it was found no riders were at fault. "He's a horse that we've held in high regard from early on," said Appleby. "The most important part once you hit that rising ground and you are finishing and he showed that class in doing so." Punters had better luck with More Thunder (6-5f) who scraped home by a nose from Aalto in the bet365 Bunbury Cup at Newmarket. Pipped in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot, he quickened up smartly for Tom Marquand but had to battle hard for the prize late on. Cheers rang out when the judge confirmed the smart handicapper had put his head down at the right time and trainer William Haggas said: 'I need to watch it again, but for me they didn't go fast at all and he struggled to get momentum. I think he's better going fast."
