We’re posting our early Newmarket races tips ahead of this week’s July Festival and have a trio of selections for punters to put into their notebooks.

Three days of world-class racing build up towards the prestigious Darley July Cup, which is often won by the season’s champion sprinter in Europe.

Here is one pick for each afternoon of Flat racing’s latest summer spectacular:

Prince of Wales’s Stakes (Thursday)

Masar fluffed his chance at the stalls when returning to action from a lengthy break in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot but last year’s Derby hero deserves another chance to show his true worth.

Charlie Appleby’s colt stumbled at the start, which resulted in a hefty bang from eventual runner-up Nagano Gold.

The incident clearly spooked Masar and he responded by racing too freely for the first half of that contest. After briefly threatening to rally in the home straight, he tired to finish fifth, but has to be forgiven that effort.

Last season, Godolphin’s son of New Approach won the Craven Stakes at HQ by nine lengths before finishing third in the 2000 Guineas and then going on to Classic glory at Epsom.

Connections must be pleased with his recovery from a subsequent injury setback, otherwise he would have already been packed off to stud, rather than risk his reputation with a four-year-old campaign.

Falmouth Stakes (Friday)

Veracious has yet to really hit top form this term but there were encouraging signs at Royal Ascot that she will be a formidable force once putting everything together.

Sir Michael Stoute’s four-year-old daughter of Frankel raced too keenly early on in the Duke of Cambridge Stakes but was far from disgraced when fourth of 17 behind Move Swiftly.

Chris Richardson, managing director at owners Cheveley Park Stud, said: “Veracious is in good form and Sir Michael is happy with her. Hopefully, this is the time of year where she starts to blossom.

“She was just doing too much at Ascot, which she can do sometimes. She never quite settled, but hopefully that will have taken all the buzz out of her.

“She worked well on Saturday and hopefully we can see a more settled and progressive performance.”

July Cup (Saturday)

Advertise was a comfortable winner of the July Stakes for juveniles here 12 months ago and has continued to impress since then.

Martyn Meade’s colt finished off his two-year-old campaign with a Group One triumph in Ireland and second place behind Too Darn Hot in the Dewhurst.

A mile proved too far for him in the 2000 Guineas but Meade’s horses were badly out of sorts at that time anyway and he bounced back in fine style when flying home to take the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot under Frankie Dettori.

Taking on older sprinters will be a different test, but Harry Angel and US Navy Flag have come out on top for the Classic generation in the last two renewals of this contest.

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