Persian Force takes July Stakes while Dettori and Gosden enjoy winning return

Six years to the day after Mehmas, his sire, took the Group Two July Stakes at Newmarket, Persian Force ran out an easy winner of the same raceand while Mehmas was retired to stud at the end of his juvenile career, Richard Hannon, who trained both colts, is already thinking ahead to the Classics next spring.

Thursday’s race lost a little of its sparkle when Little Big Bear, the winner of the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot, was scratched due to concerns about the ground and Persian Force, the runner-up in the Coventry Stakes the previous day, was sent off as the 1-2 favourite as a result. There was not a moment when his backers had much doubt that they would collect, as Rossa Ryan hit the front a quarter of a mile out and crossed the line nearly two lengths in front of Show Respect, a 33-1 outsider.

“We deserved that,” Hannon said. “He’s done exactly the same as Mehmas in finishing second in the Coventry and then winning the July Stakes and this horse, I think, will get seven furlongs. We might look at the National Stakes in Ireland and the Prix Morny next.

“My dad [former champion trainer Richard Sr] rang me after the Coventry and said he’s a Guineas horse and I thought that was a little bit out of the blue … but because he’s so sensible he gives himself every chance of getting that trip. He’s one of the best two-year-olds we’ve had for a long time. I’m sure he’s a Group One winner waiting to happen.”

Later in the afternoon, Frankie Dettori rode his first winner for John and Thady Gosden since his brief post-Royal Ascot “sabbatical” from the stable as Mighty Ulysses came home a comfortable winner of the Sir Henry Cecil Stakes.

“Maybe John was right that I needed a sabbatical,” Dettori said. “I’d be the first one to