Newmarket's July Festival begins

A decent looking card awaits today as Newmarket's summer course gets an airing at the start of the Suffolk track's 3-day July Festival.
Today's feature race is the Group 2 Prince Of Wales Stakes, where consistant performer Redwood (BW Hills/Michael Hills) makes his first appearance of the year in Britain following an excellent March run in the valuable Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan.
There are two further group encounters on the card, as the meet opens at 1.20 with an interesting Group 3 encounter for three-year-olds over 13 furlongs. Oaks runner Zain Al Boldan (Mick Channon/Hugh Bowman) is moved up in trip for this one after a couple of disappointing runs at a higher level.
The July Stakes follows at 1.50 as a number of stand-out Royal Ascot performers go head-to-head, including Windsor Castle Stakes winner Frederick Engels (David Brown/Eddie Ahern) and Coventry Stakes runner-up Roman Soldier (Jeremy Noseda/Ryan Moore).
A Class 2 handicap, two conditioning stakes and a Class 3 handicap complete the lineup. My tips cover five of the seven races.

1.20 Bahrain Trophy (Group 3), 13f, 3-year-olds (6 runners)
Solar Sky (Sir Henry Cecil/Tom Queally) 9/4 joint favourite
Sir Henry Cecil's mount proved his stamina by finishing second behind Namibian in the 16 furlong Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot after winning a 12 furlong maiden at Haydock in May. The lightly-run colt gets my vote ahead of Derby runner Masked Marvel (John Gosden/Jimmy Fortune).

1.50 July Stakes ( Group 2), 6f, 2-year-olds (8 runners)
Roman Soldier (Jeremy Noseda/Ryan Moore) 13/8 fav or Sans Loi (Alan McCabe/Robert Winston) 14/1 each way
Roman Solider ran Power close in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes and that performance makes him rightly the favourite. Frederick Engels should go close again, as could once-raced Church Music (Kevin Ryan/Richard Mullen). Two-time winner Sans Loi offers value at 14/1 if he progresses further.

2.25 Class 2 handicap, 10f, 3-year-olds (19 runners)
Club Oceanic (Jeremy Noseda/Mickael Barzalona) 9/1 ew or Tullius (P Winkworth/Luke Morris) 16/1 ew
Club Oceanic has progressed up the distances and handicap classes over three runs this season and could go well again despite going off a career-high mark. Tullius has done likewise this term, but hasn't run over 10 furlongs, so Jeremy Noseda's runner gets my vote. Mica Mika (Richard Fahey/Paul Hanagan, 28/1) has a chance to put a poor last run behind him at a big price.

3.00 Prince Of Wales Stakes (Group 2) 12f, 3-year-olds+ (9 runners)
Redwood (BW Hills/Michael Hills) 11/4 fav or Dordogne (Mark Johnston/Silvestre De Sousa) 11/1 ew
My nap of the day is 5-year-old stallion Redwood, who in his only run this year finished second behind Rewilding in the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic. Dordogne receives a massive weight advantage for being a three-year-old and should progress to 12 furlongs after winning on his last run, the 11 furlong Group3 Derby Trial at Lingfield.

4.40 Class 3 handicap, 5f, 3-year-olds+ (10 runners)
Fol Hollow (David Nicholls/Shirley Teasdale) 10/1 ew or Lujeanie (Dean Ivory/Neil Callan) 6/1
Fol Hollow ran his best race for nearly a year finishing fifth in Musselburgh's Scottish Sprint Cup class 2 handicap last month. A further drop in rating after that race, as well as jockey Shirley Teasdale claiming seven pounds, means more improvement could be on the cards. Another progressive type is five-year-old Lujeanie, who finished second in his last outing. That was the first time the gelding had competed over five furlongs since his two-year-old campaign.