The strength of Aidan O'Brien's bid for a fourth Darley July Cup win was in doubt on Friday with the trainer expressing concerns over the ground for his three contenders – Due Diligence, Cougar Mountain and Fountain Of Youth.
The trainer said that he spoke to son Joseph after his rides at Newmarket, who described the ground as yielding.
“I’ll be speaking to the clerk of the course Michael Prosser at 6am (Saturday) and will listen to what he says about the ground and weather,” he saud.
“If there is no more rain we’ll have decisions to make but if there is rain then it will be a lot simpler- Due Diligence and Fountain Of Youth would have to be considered very doubtful runners.
“Slow ground wouldn’t be ideal for Cougar Mountain either but he has had only the one race and needs experience, so he will probably take his chance.”
Sole Power trainer Eddie Lynam is also set to assess conditions this morning before deciding if the seven-year-old will run.
“He’s in Newmarket and in good form, but he isn’t a soft ground horse so we’ll check out conditions in the morning. Hopefully, it will dry out enough to let him take his chance,” said Lynam.
Earlier on Friday, jockey Richard Hughes said: “At this stage I’d say there’s a better chance he’ll run than not run”.
“After riding the track today it’s not as bad as everyone assumed. It will probably be good ground by tomorrow, and if it is, he’ll run,” he said.
Yesterday’s card was run on ground officially described as soft.
