Alverta in the Royal Ascot Parade Ring before the running of the Golden Jubilee

Alverta continues to improve as she prepares for her second English start, in the six-furlong July Cup G1 at Newmarket on Friday 9 July. She was far from disgraced in the Golden Jubilee S. G1 on the final day of Royal Ascot, finishing mid-field in a world-class group of sprinters.

After losing 40kg during the journey from Australia, Alverta is only now reaching her ideal race weight. Paul has increased her work load as she will need every ounce of fitness to meet crack sprinter Starspangledbanner, who won the Golden Jubilee in course record time.

The July Course at Newmarket is quite different from Royal Ascot. Most importantly, it’s not as wide as Ascot, so it’s likely that the field will race as one group instead of splitting in two. The split field can be a disadvantage if your horse ends up in the slower racing group, which happened to Alverta in the Golden Jubilee.

Because she’s based in Newmarket, Alverta has had the advantage of working on the July Course this week, so come raceday she will be familiar with the many undulations that are a feature of this track. Here’s a video of her working http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GJQ-3SNJ4A.

AM