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| Punter's Diary by Malcolm Heyhoe |
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| Updated: 31st August 2009 - GG.com |
Settling Scores In September
September is the month when the Flat season builds to a thrilling climax and scores are settled on the racecourse that will determine the traditional end-of-season pecking orders. The entire process begins at Haydock on September 5 with the Betfred Sprint Cup over six furlongs at the Lancashire course.
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Class is again the key factor in finding the winner of this Group 1 prize and this year’s renewal features two sprinters cut from the smoothest of cloth in Fleeting Spirit, the July Cup heroine and High Standing, the rising star from the handicap ranks. Narrow preference is for the latter especially with a wet week in store for Lancashire. On the same card, watch out for any truly progressive types in the Old Borough Handicap.
Over at Leopardstown the all-conquering Sea The Stars may well face a showdown with Fame And Glory in the Champion Stakes providing of course that a sound surface prevails at the south Dublin track. It should be a fascinating clash with Fame And Glory coming into the race fresh while Sea The Stars made hard work of beating Mastercraftsman at York in a farcical renewal for the Juddmonte International. Saturday’s contest should tell us a lot more about the relative merits of Sea the Stars and Fame And Glory.
September can only mean four days at Doncaster culminating in the St Leger and while the town’s football team has shown a chronic lack of ambition in failing to sign a striker and soldiering on with a team of cast-offs and rejects from other clubs, the racecourse has moved swiftly into the modern age with its recently re-furbished racecourse.
On September 9 the sprinters go to war in the Scarborough Stakes while on the following day it is the turn of the two-year-old fillies to impress in the May Hill Stakes where all eyes will be upon Luca Cumani’s rising star, Seta. On September 11 Asker Tau could take all the beating in the Doncaster Cup as the stayers take centre stage.
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On September 12 Pavershooz may prove hard to beat in the Portland Handicap while Saeed Bin Suroor could well have the edge in the Champagne Stakes courtesy of Al Zir. The 2009 renewal of the St Leger leaves a lot to be desired and this is a poor renewal. The one-paced Kite Wood surely is not good enough and I prefer the more persuasive claims of the Aidan O’Brien-trained pair, Age Of Aquarius and Changingoftheguard.
Over in Paris on the following day Stacelita should land the Prix Vermeille and book her place in next month’s Prix e l’Arc de Triomphe and on the same card Vision D’Etat and Cavalryman will be bidding to just that in the Prix Foy and Prix Niel respectively.
The following week racing’s caravan rolls north to Ayr for three fine days of action at the Ayr Western meeting which features the Ayr Gold Cup, Europe’s richest sprint handicap that takes place on September 19. Dandy Nicholls is once again sure to boast a strong challenge with Exceptional Art being his likely number one while Newmarket’s Michael Bell has trained Redford or this valuable prize and he should go close.
On September 26 the top milers occupy the spotlight in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth 11 Stakes at Ascot and it is hard to look beyond Rip Van Winkle who looks untouchable here. On September 27 the Diadem Stakes is the feature contest on Ascot’s second and final day and the one to be with here is Luca Cumani’s Ialysos, who has been refreshed for the race and might just have the legs of Palace Moon, Hughie Morrison’s star sprinter.
Malcolm Heyhoe writes weekly horse racing articles for GG.COM-Horse racing betting, information, news, results and free daily tips
Archive August 2009
