U S Navy Flag Eyes The Everest After July Cup Triumph

U S Navy Flag carved himself a niche in racing history when he captured the July 14 Darley July Cup (G1), completing a Newmarket group 1 triple that includes his victories in last year's Juddmonte Middle Park and Darley Dewhurst Stakes.

That tells only half the story as his trainer, Aidan O'Brien, conqueror of most of the peaks in Europe, is looking to scale The Everest, the fabulously rich sprint at Randwick in Australia in October, with this "amazing horse."

The astonishment was that the 3-year-old managed to shake off three attempts this year to convert him into a group 1-winning miler, when he would not back down but had come up short.

"He's unbelievable," said O'Brien of his fourth July Cup winner but the first since Australian import Starspangledbanner eight years ago. "What threw us was that he was able to win a Dewhurst, after setting a strong pace, and he nearly won an Irish Guineas, probably the toughest mile any horse can run.

"He was absolutely out on his head in the final furlong but still kept trying, so he's an unbelievable little horse to be doing that."

To use an athletics analogy, it was like Usain Bolt back over 100 meters having been beaten up by Mo Farah over 1,500 meters.

Clearly holding no grudge against his trainer, U S Navy Flag unfurled his banner from the stalls, with Ryan Moore allowing him to charge down the middle of the course straight as a gun barrel.

Last year's third, Brando, reshod after losing a shoe on the way to the start, came with a strong challenge but was shaken off by a length and three-quarters. The winner's stablemate Fleet Review was third at 50-1.

There was wonderment at U S Navy Flag's re-emergence as a group 1 winner, but he was following something of a blueprint for success in this six-furlong sprint.

The 1980s were littered with 3-year-olds who rediscovered their mojo after brave attempts at becoming milers—remember Chief Singer, Green Desert and Ajdal—and more recently came O'Brien's 2001 winner Mozart and in 2011 Dream Ahead.

The story of the race is simply told as U S Navy Flag led the majority of the field down the middle of the track, with Eqtidaar and Redkirk Warrior trying to match him among a quartet on the stands' rail only to fall away.

Moore, winning his first July Cup, said: "The second came to me and probably got to a neck, but he dug in—he's a very straightforward horse."

O'Brien added: "He doesn't need tactics. He's aggressive and wants to go forward, and if anything wants to take him on, they'll have to be going hard."

It is likely to be the Australian sprinters who will find that out in The Everest over six furlongs Oct. 13, and that race being run around a bend holds no fears for connections.

Moore added: "What's important to him is the ground, today's ground."

O'Brien, so far thwarted in his attempts to conquer the early summer American classic scene, is looking forward to this new challenge.

"Australian racing is very strong and competitive, so it's great that we can race through the first half of the year in this country and then go down in the winter for the second half of their season," said the Ballydoyle trainer.

As to U S Navy Flag's preparation, O'Brien added: "He'll probably have a little rest now. He's had a tough time, then we'll train him for The Everest."