Super September shaping up to be Horse Racing Spectacle

September is always one of the best months of the racing calendar. The start of a new jump season proper is just around the corner, the final classic is run and flat dreams begin their journey to winter warmers. Let’s take a look ahead to fill the diary, pick out the key runners and make sure you don’t miss anything!

Kentucky Derby Meeting – 4th-5th September

2020 has seen some serious shuffling round of the racing year. Churchill Downs’ famous first weekend in May has become the first weekend in September instead. The Kentucky Oaks comes up in Friday with the Derby on Saturday. Tiz The Law heads the market after impressive wins in the Belmont and Travers. The sole defeat of his career came at Churchill though, can he put that to bed and claim the second leg of the Triple Crown?

St Leger Meeting – 9th-12th September

The final classic of a compressed season and more importantly for horse racing fans, the test event for admission back into racecourses. An open looking renewal at this stage with Irish Derby winner Santiago leading the market. Third to Stradivarius in the Goodwood Cup when last in action, he won’t mind any rain that has been falling of late. Six of the last nineteen runnings have gone back to Ballydoyle, seven in twenty would be no surprise.

Irish Champions Weekend – 12th-13th September

The Champion Stakes itself at Leopardstown on Saturday and then a bumper card featuring four Group 1’s at the Curragh on Sunday. Magical won the Leopardstown feature in 2019 and looks set to defend her crown with Ghaiyyath looking more likely to be routed elsewhere at present.

The Moyglare and National Stakes on the Sunday went the ways of Love and Pinatubo in 2019. The winners this year will naturally head towards the top of the Guineas markets as always so those with an antepost fancy lining up face the tricky decision of when to get involved.

Ayr Western Meeting – 17th-19th September

The richest day of flat racing in Scotland on Saturday September 19th sees the Ayr Gold Cup as the feature. First run in 1804, it wasn’t until 1908 that it became the six furlong cavalry charge punters love today.

Given how competitive this race is, it’s incredible that Kevin Ryan has trained the winner four times in the last thirteen renewals. With a pair of consolation races, it’s hard to know exactly what the yard will be running but whoever represents Ryan needs serious consideration.

Newmarket Cambridgeshire Meeting – 24th-26th September

The bet365 Cambridgeshire is the first leg of the autumn double, the Cesarewitch on October 10th being the second. Won last year by Lord North who soon left handicapping behind him to score in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot this season.

Three of the last five winners have been three-year olds, the last pair trained by John Gosden. As such, the likes of King Leonidis is going to be popular in the antepost markets, with wins on both soft and good to firm ground at Newmarket already on his resume.

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