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| Punter's Diary by Malcolm Heyhoe |
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| Updated: 27th August 2007 - GG.com |
September's Classic Action
The return of the sprinters in full flow for the Betfred
Sprint Cup at Haydock on September 8 signals the end of the summer’s Flat
action as the racing caravan rolls on towards the autumn and the season’s
closing chapter.
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Once again class is the key quality when it comes to finding the winner of Haydock’s Group1 contest and it comes as no surprise to learn that horses which have run well in the Group 1 July Cup feature prominently again in the Betfred Sprint over a sharp six furlongs.
As long as the ground doesn’t turn muddy, Sakhee’s Secret should be able to add the Betfred to the July Cup, a race that he won in thrilling style as he announced his formidable presence at the top of the sprinting game. Perhaps the best sprinter in training right now, Sakhee’s Secret will also bid to defend this season’s unbeaten record.
In opposition he will face recent Deauville scorer Marchand D’Or, a lively French challenger who bids to reverse July Cup placings with Sakhee’s Secret while if the rain falls then Soldier’s Tale, the Golden Jubilee winner, will warrant close inspection.
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Later on the Haydock card watch out for Luca Cumani’s Samurai Way in the Old Borough Handicap. The former has a good record with his runners at the Lancashire course and the latter has been laid-out for this valuable prize while over in Ireland George Washington may well be the one to beat in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown. Finally, Red Evie’s racecourse swansong may well come in the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown where she will face Arch Swing and Barshiba, two talented if inferior fillies.
Over at Longchamp on September 9 the Aga Khan’s star filly Darjina should take all the beating in the Prix du Moulin at
the Paris track. She hasn’t looked back since getting beaten at
Royal Ascot in the Coronation Stakes earlier in the season.
September can only mean one thing for racing fans and that is the return
of the St Leger meeting to its rightful home on Town Moor, Doncaster.
The latter has undergone an extensive and expensive re-furbishment and
the four-day Leger meeting will be a test of whether the new styled course
can pass muster as the thousands of race-goers pass through its turnstiles.
Early signs from August’s one-day meeting suggest that the new
Doncaster will more than meet expectations.
On September 15 a large field looks likely to assemble for what looks
like being a most open race for the final classic of the season. Aidan
O’Brien’s Soldier of Fortune would be hard to beat if turning out while Derby third Aqaalem is another with strong claims if given the green light. These two hold the strongest prospects but whether both or ether will run or not is another matter.
On the same day Turbo Linn, Alan Swinbank’s progressive
filly, could either line-up for the Park Hill Stakes at Doncaster or
take in the Irish St Leger over at the Curragh, a race that the Swinbank team have won before with Collier Hill and a second success seems likely should Turbo Linn appear in Ireland.
The following week racing heads north for three fine days of racing at the Ayr Western meeting that features the Ayr
Gold Cup, Europe’s richest spring handicap, on Saturday September 22. This year’s
race, which has been landed in four out of the past seven seasons by
trainer Dandy Nicholls, is once again likely to boast a strong challenge
from northern trainers who tend to do better in this race than their
southern counterparts. Richard Fahey plunder this grand prize in2006
with Fonthill Road and will be fancied to do the same again with Knot In Wood, who
has run well in this season’s Wokingham and Stewards’ Cup
handicaps.
Over at Newbury on the same day there is the thoroughly informative and £100,000 John Smith’s Handicap, a
race that is required viewing for any potential Cambridgeshire backers.
Blue Monday and Formal Decree, the last two winners of the latter race,
were both beaten at Newbury before going on to success at Newmarket.
Blue Monday’s trainer Roger Charlton may run Third Set here
in preparation for a crack at the first leg of the autumn double.
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Malcolm Heyhoe is GG.com's resident tipster contributing a daily "Best Bets" column and a weekly feature called "The Weekend File". He is also a tipster for the Racing Post Weekender, contributor to The Guardian and has written on racing for Sporting Life, Racing Post, Irish Examiner and The Independent newspaper.
Malcolm Heyhoe writes weekly horse racing articles for GG.COM-Horse racing betting, information, news, results and free daily tips
Archive August 2007
