The hottest maiden of the year? Coolmore and Godolphin set to clash in July festival contest Constitution River and Field Of Gold were unleashed in

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There could be fireworks in the opening race (1.40) on July Cup day with two expensively bought colts representing powerful connections in a maiden with a rich history.

There is much more to the 7f contest than being yet another clash between Aidan O'Brien and Charlie Appleby, Ballydoyle and Godolphin, but that is still the main narrative.

The July festival has proved to be Appleby's domain and his record in this race is striking. The trainer has won it four times since 2017 and gives a first start to Al Wathba, a son of Wootton Bassett who cost €900,000 as a yearling.

Just last year, Appleby edged out O'Brien when Distant Storm won on his debut at 5-6 with a short-head success over Constitution River, who has gone on to become this year's outstanding three-year-old.

Arabic Legend (2023) and Al Hilalee (2018) similarly made successful debuts in this race for Appleby, while his other winners, Noble Truth (2021) and Being There (2017), were having their second starts.

The market prefers the previous experience of the O'Brien-trained Haffner, who makes his second start having chased home stablemate Abraham Lincoln at the Curragh last month. 

The son of Justify, a $375,000 yearling buy, could advertise that form in a timely manner before Abraham Lincoln takes on a field containing the Appleby-trained Al Hudaiba in the Group 2 Boodles Superlative Stakes (4.00) later on the card. 

Distant Storm: won this maiden last season from Constitution RiverCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

From the family of Order Of St George, an elite stayer who won the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, Haffner should relish this extra furlong and, like many of his stable's juveniles, can be expected to improve from his debut.

Ryan Moore, who was aboard Abraham Lincoln that day, is looking forward to getting on Haffner

"He ran a good race on his debut a couple of weeks ago, where he was second to a good horse who I ride later on the card, Abraham Lincoln," he said on his World Pool blog.

"He now steps up from six to seven furlongs, which I feel will suit him, and his chance looks obvious in a small field of mainly unraced horses."

Of the remaining five runners, only Lord Of Winterfell has a run under his belt and it could be telling that Juddmonte have opted to give a first start to Subscription in a race they won with the recently retired Field Of Gold two years ago.

The homebred son of sire-of-the-moment Night Of Thunder, who is trained by Andrew Balding, is well worth monitoring in the market.

The race is also significant for Roger Varian as the Newmarket trainer sends out his first two-year-old of the season in the shape of Sioux River, who cost €120,000 last year.

"He's a lovely horse and this looks like a nice place to get him started," the trainer said. "It's very much the first day at school for him."

If that was not enough, there is also a footballing theme on this crucial day for England with Michael Owen joint-owner of Velociraptor. 

His trainer Hugo Palmer said: "He's been going nicely and I think he'll run a nice race."

'It is likely that we will come back to coo over the strength of this form'

Making a maiden one of the 12 ITV races on Super Saturday may strike you as a mistake. Yet this race has been a real bellwether, producing horses of significance every year bar once this decade.

At the low end, we have the likes of Epictetus, who won Group 3s and was placed in Group 1s, and Noble Truth, who went on to win the Jersey Stakes. At the upper end you have Group 1 winners like Naval Crown, Yibir, Field Of Gold and Constitution River. Three of those four were beaten in this race, too.

As you might be able to tell from that list of luminaries, this is a race for somewhat slower developers. True to form, five of the seven entered this year are debutants. 

You could argue that Aidan O'Brien's selective approach to this maiden makes his record in it better than the Superlative. 

He has run two horses in it this decade, Constitution River being joined by Mount Kilimanjaro. The latter went on to be second in a Group 1 and won the Dee Stakes at Chester. He has left Ballydoyle now and is mopping up minor Pattern races in Scandinavia.

It is easier to see now why ITV will start the cameras rolling to capture this race. Whatever the result on the day, it is more likely than not that we will be returning to this race in a year or so to coo over the strength of the form.
Analysis by Keith Melrose

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