Jockey great Basil Marcus would likely be the favourite for the accolade “Best jockey to have never won The July” and the horse he finished second on thirty years ago, the Paddy Lunn-trained Model Man, would be a strong contender for the title “The greatest July run to have not earned the winner’s sash.”

Marcus said, “To think the top three-year-old of that 1987 year, Bush Telegraph, who was unbeaten in eight previous starts, including the South African 2000 (Daily News 2000), only had to carry 49kg, compared to Model Man’s 57kg, shows just how great a run it was. Then in the race he was hampered at the start and ended up a long way off the pace. I had to build him up gently to make up the ground.”

In the straight, the great horse was soon eating up the ground with that enormous stride of his. However, Bush Telegraph had stolen too much ground when displaying a blistering turn of foot at the top of the straight and Model Man failed by 1,25 lengths to catch him.

“Two strides past the line he was in front,” recalled Marcus, and even after all of these years his voice tails off in disappointment.

Marcus revealed his fancies for this year’s race, first Edict Of Nantes, second Al Sahem and third Black Arthur.

He said, “Those two three-year-olds are progressive and Black Arthur has come back to his best.”

By David Thiselton