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Updated: 1st September 2011 - GG.com

September's Gems

The swish of whips brings the return of the sprinters in full flow for the Betfred Sprint Cup on September 3. For some time now the big Haydock sprint has signalled the end of the summer's Flat race action before the racing caravan rolls on to the autumn and the season's closing chapter.

Dream Ahead
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Once again class will be the key quality in finding the winner of Haydock's Group 1 contest and it therefore comes as no surprise to discover that horses who have run well in the Group 1 July Cup feature prominently again in the Betfred Sprint that takes place over a sharper 6f.

Many will fancy Dream Ahead, a winner of a weak July Cup to come out on top at Haydock but David Simcock's colt has a knack of turning in a poor race when the chips are down, and I much prefer the pressing claims of the wonderfully progressive Deacon Blues, who will be joined in the Haydock showpiece by his stable companion, Society Rock.

Later on the Haydock card watch out for any runner from Luca Cumani's stable in the Old Borough Cup. The Newmarket handler has a good record with runners in this race while over in Ireland So You Think seems sure to go off a very short price for the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown. On the same card there is also a fillies' Group 1 in the guise of the Matron Stakes, a suitable target for Aidan O'Brien's Misty For Me.

Doncaster's four-day St Leger meeting gets under way on September 7, with the Park Hill Stakes as the feature race on September 8, and on the following day, September 9, all eyes will be upon John Gosden's precociously talented filly Fallen For You in the May Hill Stakes, a race that Gosden has won four times in past seasons.

Sea Moon
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On Doncaster's final day the St Leger takes centre stage on September 10, and backers need look no further for the winner than Sea Moon, an impressive winner of York's Great Voltigeur Stakes who could well be followed home by Yorkshire Oaks heroine, Blue Bunting. On the same day Hoof It will attempt to defy another high weight in the Portland Sprint but Andrew Balding's Dungannon might well be tailor-made for this five and half furlong sprint.

The following week racing heads north for three fine days of action at the Ayr Western meeting that features the Ayr Gold Cup on September 17. Traditionally Dandy Nichols has been the man that punters turn to for the winner of Europe's richest sprint handicap but Dandy has had a quiet season, and it may be prudent to look elsewhere for the Ayr Gold Cup winner, with Kevin Ryan's progressive York Glory looking a likely sort if he makes the cut.

Best Terms
© Racehorse Photos

On September 24 the curtain comes down on September's racing with an earlier than usual Cambridgeshire Handicap, and in recent seasons this has been something of a farce for backers and I don't think it is a handicap to take seriously anymore.

If for some reason the dramatic draw bias that has spoiled the race in past seasons somehow relents then progressive types such as Maraheb, Labarinto and Dare To Dance seem sure to figure prominently.

On the same card Best Terms might well prove hard to beat in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes while Saphresa looks the one to be on in a bid for a remarkabler hat-trick of victories in the Sun Chariot Stakes. She was given a very poor ride by Christophe Lemaire on the July course earlier in the season, but the French jockey should not make the same mistake a second time on the Rowley Mile.

Malcolm Heyhoe writes weekly horse racing articles for GG.COM-Horse racing betting, information, news, results and free daily tips

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