September will herald the end of the summer months and bring relief that the kids are back at school but that does not mean the end of top-class racing.
The three-day Sprint Cup Festival at Haydock takes place between September 7 and 9, with the Group 1 Sprint Cup the feature race.
The six-furlong contest is the final top-level sprint race of the year in Britain and may well see Darley July Cup Stakes winner Harry Angel back in action.
The three-year-old colt took care of Limato at Newmarket on July 15 and is a red-hot ante-post favourite at 5/4 to make it a double.
Limato may well reoppose, having also finished third in the Royal Ascot‘s Diamond Jubilee Stakes and is generally on offer at around 7/1 to get back in the winner’s circle.
The Tin Man (8/1) has been slated for an outing having won the Diamond Jubilee Stakes and will hope for an improvement on his eighth-place finish in the July Cup.
Across the Irish Sea the Irish Champion Stakes, held on September 9 at Leopardstown, has all the makings of a classic.
The 1m 2 furlongs contest could see a renewal of hostilities between many horses, with Churchill (11/2) and Barney Roy (10/1) likely to go head to head. Churchill won the 2000 Guineas and followed it up by taking the Irish equivalent but had his colours lowered by Barney Roy in the St James’s Palace Stakes.
While it is still too early to know exactly which animals will line up, Brametot is the current 4/1 ante-post favourite for Jean-Claude Rouget.
The three-year-old has never raced outside of France but has a couple of Group One wins under his belt already, including the Prix Du Jockey Club at Chantilly and looks certain to be big player.
Attention will turn to the north of England in mid-September, as Doncaster‘s St Leger Festival takes centre stage.
The Group One St Leger is the world’s oldest Classic, dating back to 1776, and is sure to draw a huge crown to Town Moor on Saturday, September 16.
Run over 1m 6f and 132 yards, this year’s renewal could well see a rematch between Aidan O’Brien’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby winner Capri (3/1) and Cracksman (6/1), who was just a neck adrift at the Curragh.
John Gosden’s charge was not too far behind Wings of Eagles when finishing third in the Epsom Derby and it looks set to be a fascinating contest, with the runner-up on that occasion, Cliffs of Moher (8/1), also a likely participant in south Yorkshire.
Those who fancy a bet on the Doncaster showpiece should check out Bookmaker Advisor for all the best sites and prices available.
Scotland’s most prestigious Flat meeting takes place at Ayr over four days from September 21-23, with the feature race being the six-furlong Ayr Gold Cup.
For those horses who fail to make the cut for that contest, there is now the Silver Cup, which is run over the same distance on the Friday of the meeting.
Newmarket’s Cambridgeshire meeting will conclude the major events in September, with the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes over six furlongs the feature race on Thursday 28.
The Cambridgeshire on Saturday 30 is the most prestigious contest of the event and will bring the curtain down on September’s major races.
