Nap of the Day: Maximum faith in unbeaten Appleby colt

The July Festival kicks off at Newmarket on Thursday, with a seven-race card featuring a couple of Group 2 contests.

One of those features six promising young horses, one of which rates my Nap of the Day.

I suspect MAXIMIZED is Charlie Appleby's best juvenile and the son of Mehmas has a chance to prove as much at Newmarket on Friday.

The £720k purchase is unbeaten in two starts ahead of the Kingdom Of Bahrain July Stakes - a Group 2 over six furlongs for two-year-old colts and geldings - and the form of his victory in the Woodcote at Epsom last time out was given a handsome boost at Royal Ascot last month.

Havana Hurricane, who finished a length-and-a-half behind the selection on the undercard to the Betfred Oaks, was a ready winner of the Windsor Castle in Berkshire.

Before Epsom, Maximized got the better of stablemate Time To Turn, sent off 8/13f under William Buick, on debut at Haydock by a cosy margin, which is also a fine piece of form.

Such is the manner of his victories to date, I don't believe we've seen the limit of his ability yet - and of course he's open to any amount of improvement after just a couple of runs.

His main rival at HQ is Brussels, for Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore. The son of Wootton Bassett won on his debut at the Curragh, beating stablemate Kansas by a narrow margin.

Given the yard's runners often improve significant for their first day at school, he too can improve significantly here.

Do Or Do Not is the highest-rated runner in the field, despite being winless in three starts, and his second in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot isn't to be sniffed at. His mark of 105 is in all probability inflated, but it would hardly be a shock if he obliged for Ed Walker and Tom Marquand.

Jel Pepper sits under the 'could be anything' umbrella after a comfortable first-time-out success at Goodwood last month and is another in with a chance. Comical Point and Zavateri are harder to advise in my book.

But all things considered, I think Maximized is a level above these and can land the hat-trick.

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