PROVIDED the sun stays away and the ground good to soft, Somnus (3.05) has an outstanding chance of bringing the July Cup back from Newmarket to Tim Easterby's North Yorkshire stable.

An inherently shy person, Easterby prefers to let his horses do the talking, a policy which paid off in spades during 2004 when Somnus was crowned European Champion sprinter after bagging a brace of Group 1 contests in France.

The fleet-of-foot five-year-old was also a fast-finishing fifth in last year's July Cup on an unsuitably quick surface, plus was beaten a cat's whisker by Tante Rose in Haydock's Stanley Sprint, the result so close it took the judge 20 minutes to spilt the pair.

As for his rivals, the dogs were barking well before Ifraaj landed a monster Royal Ascot at York punt in the Wokingham Stakes. However, whether the Michael Jarvis-trained inmate can now make the quantum leap from handicapper to Group 1 winner is open to question.

Whatever the outcome, Ifraaj, currently trading as a ludicrously short priced 100-30 ante-post favourite, is a risky wager now that he takes on a far better standard of opponent.

In the preceding Bunbury Cup, our region might additionally be in business via the challenge of My Paris (2.30).

Kevin Ryan's gelding was cruelly robbed of a valuable prize when caught right on the wire at Thirsk in the spring. The form of that defeat is copper-bottomed and taking into account his front-running tactics, he is well worth an each-way investment at what are sure to be value-for-money odds.

Should My Paris not figure in your calculations, an alternative suggestion is Mine, successful in the 2002 race, plus an incredibly unlucky short-head second the following season when sitting much too far off the pace behind Patavellian.

The mile-and-a-half Swan Handicap sets a real poser since Racing North ten-to-follow selections, Quizzene and Lets Roll, are both in the mix.

Rather than take one on with another, I'm going to swerve the issue and nap Soulacroix (4.45) as a viable alternative. Amanda Perrett's four-year-old is well capable of defying top-weight, especially having made an eye-catching return at Chester over an inadequate trip of ten furlongs.

Patience will be required for the best bet on the card at Doncaster's evening meeting, Snow Bunting (9.15), scheduled to run in the closing Jimmy Adams Memorial Handicap.

Richard Hughes is due to ride Snow Bunting, a course and distance winner.

Jedd O'Keeffe's raider has already hit the post and crossbar to date this term.

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