The July Cup, sprinting’s midsummer championship race, came up with a boil-over to match the soaring temperatures as No Half Measures, at 66-1, gave the former champion jockey Richard Hughes a first Group One success as a trainer to add to the dozens he won in the saddle.
Notable Speech, last year’s 2,000 Guineas winner, set off as a warm favourite despite racing at a sprint trip for the first time, but he could not find an extra gear in the closing stages after Neil Callan on No Half Measures hit the front a furlong out. The four-year-old filly stayed on strongly to the line to beat Big Mojo (12-1) and Run To Freedom (40-1), a tricast that paid out at nearly 28,000-1.
