Shea stands by Jet Plane

Kevin Shea is confident of a better performance from J J The Jet Plane in the Darley July Cup at Newmarket on Friday week.The South African rider was slightly disappointed with Mike De Kock's star sprinter in the Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot, where he was only fourth to Art Connoisseur after being sent off the 5-2 favourite.Shea said: "He came out of his run well and it's hard to say what went wrong, if anything did. Whether it was because it was his second run after a lay-off or because it was his first time at Ascot, but I think he ran a little bit below par."The jockey added: "He's in good form and we're happy with him. He'll be running at Newmarket and taking on the ones that won at Ascot."Last year's winner Marchand D'Or will not be among his opponents in the July Cup as Freddie Head is playing a patient game in the hope that the champion sprinter can recapture his sparkle after three disappointing runs in France and Dubai."He's not going for it. We've had setbacks with him," said the French handler. "He hasn't done anything good this year yet, so we gave him a little break and we'll see. He might run at the back-end."