Comanche Brave Proves Fierce in July Cup

Comanche Brave (IRE) landed a stellar running of the July Cup Stakes (G1) for Donnacha O'Brien and first-time rider Billy Loughnane July 11 over 6 furlongs at Newmarket Racecourse. The 4-year-old Wootton Bassett colt showcased his form in the Middle East and Hong Kong this year before landing the Greenlands Stakes (G2) at the Curragh in May and finishing seventh in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (G1) last time out. He produced a career-best effort on this occasion, traveling supremely well off the pace set by the Japanese favorite Satono Reve (JPN) and finding enough to hold off the late challenge of the Commonwealth Cup Stakes (G1) winner Venetian Sun to score by a length. Satono Reve showed "He was very good," O'Brien said of Comanche Brave. "He looked to be traveling all over them. Billy gave him a lovely ride and kept sitting on him. He has a lot of pace, this horse. "A big well done to the owners, they bought him when he was out running in Saudi, and they believed a lot in him. They believed he could compete at this level and they've been proven right today. It's a bloody hard game, and we all work hard at it." It was a seventh British win for O'Brien, of which five have been group 1s and another was the Albany Stakes (G3). He had also already won the feature race at Navan Saturday afternoon. Loughnane had endured a frustrating July festival so far with defeat on the Albany winner Libertango (IRE) in the July 10 Duchess of Cambridge Stakes (G2), but was smiling again after his latest group 1 strike. "I'm very grateful to pick up this spare ride for Donnacha, who is a fantastic trainer, on a horse who is just learning how to sprint," he said. "He had the most beautiful setup, I was taking back into the furlong and a half and just wanted to nurse him through the downhill section and let him do his stuff. "I'm in a pinch-myself position; I'm fortunate enough to be riding for some very powerful connections and I have a great team behind me. Thankfully, I'm the lucky one that gets to partner these great horses." Although beaten in the race with seventh-place Mission Central (IRE), legendary trainer Aidan O'Brien was happy to celebrate a big win for his youngest son and also had the bonus of breeding the winner with his wife, Annemarie.