Heavy rain in the south of England over the last two days did not reach Newton-le-Willows and the Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock on Saturday is expected to be run on good-to-soft ground at worst.

That should suit all the leading contenders in the betting market, including Inisherin, the impressive winner of the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot in June, who let down his backers when up against older horses for the first time in the July Cup two months ago.

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Kevin Ryan’s colt was coming off a busy run of races there and may have been freshened up by a two-month break. He does not have much in hand of his field on ratings, however, and this could be the day when Swingalong (3.35) finally gets her head in front at Group One level.

Karl Burke’s filly was touched off in the Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot and the July Cup and looks overpriced at around 7-1 to go one place better on Saturday.

Haydock 1.15: Cicero’s Gift looked ill at ease on fast ground at ­Goodwood last month but he was seen as a realistic contender for the St James’s Palace Stakes last season – he was beaten eight lengths at 12-1 on just the third start of his career – and has an obvious chance to notch a first Group-race success on easier going here.

Ascot 1.35: The last two winners of the Victoria Cup over track and trip are in the lineup and Rebel ­Territory, who has had just one run since finishing four lengths clear of an ultra-competitive field in May 2023, makes plenty of appeal at around 6-1, not least as he at his best on soft ground.

Haydock 1.50: Lightly raced Master Builder post a new career-best when third in the Melrose at York last month and will be very hard to beat if his progress continues.

Ascot 2.10: The Reverend posted a useful time under a penalty in a novice event last time and starts his handicapping career on a very fair mark.

Haydock 2.25:Epic Poet (fourth) and Oneforthegutter (third) represent the Ebor form and should be in the mix, but it may pay to side instead with the progressive filly Waxing Gibbous, who has an obvious chance at the weight on her form at 12 furlongs and could well improve further for this step up in trip.

Kempton 2.35: Kalpana is making her debut on Polytrack but made a winning debut on Tapeta in January and looked highly progressive when finishing nearly five lengths clear in a Listed race at Hamilton in July.

Haydock 1.15 Cicero’s Gift 1.50 Master Builder (nb) 2.25 Waxing Gibbous (nap) 3.00 American Affair 3.35 Swingalong 4.07 Age Of Gold 4.40 Arkhalia Flynn 5.15 Al Rufaa

Ascot 1.35 Rebel Territory 2.10 2.45 Law Of Design 3.20 Hosaamm 3.55 Tacarib Bay 4.30 Surveyor 5.05 Faustus

Kempton 2.00 Symbol Of Strength 2.35 Kalpana 3.15 Kilt 3.45 Chesneys Charm 4.20 Ferrous 4.55 Assail 5.30 Duke Of Verona

Thirsk 2.05 Bella Love 2.40 Mayor Of Maghera 3.10 Novamay 3.50 Hiya Maite 4.25 Rajindri 5.00 Haptics 5.35 Finbar’s Lad 6.10 Racingbreaks Ryder

Stratford-On-Avon 4.12 Evenwood Sonofagun 4.45 Cavern Club 5.20 Nickelforce 5.50 Pak Army 6.20 Forget The Way 6.50 All Well And Good

Wolverhampton 4.50 Supaspecialawesome 5.25 Prophet’s Path 6.00 Amestris 6.30 Dawn Awakening 7.00 Three Platoon 7.30 Liosa 8.00 Match Play 8.30 La Sonnambula

Haydock 3.00: In a tightly knit sprint, Amie Waugh’s 5lb claim might tip the scales in favourite of the ultra-consistent American Affair.

Kempton 3.15: With just four races in the book, Kilt is the least-exposed runner in this field by some way and he arrives on the back of a career-best on his handicap debut at Haydock last month.

Isambard Brunel may bridge gap in future

The jumpers at Bangor went about their business in blazing sunshine on Friday, but on the Flat at Ascot, it was very much a day for the diehards: grey, damp and distinctly autumnal, with stepping-stone races for two-year-olds at the heart of the card.

These are the days when there might just be a future Classic or Group One winner in action, but it is as likely to be among the also-rans as it is to walk into the winner’s enclosure. Aidan O’Brien’s Paddington, for instance, the winner of four Group Ones including the Irish 2,000 Guineas and the Eclipse last summer, made his debut on this card in 2022.

Paddington was sent off at 9-2 and finished fifth of eight, so it is too early to be writing off the same trainer’s Isambard Brunel, who filled the same position in the equivalent seven-furlong race behind Ralph Beckett’s Calla Lagoon on Friday.

His travelling companion Ballet Slippers, meanwhile, landed odds of 1-4 by a length in the fillies’ novice over a mile and could now head to either the Group Two Rockfel Stakes or the Group One Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket’s Future Champions Weekend in October.

Calla Lagoon is very much a name to bear in mind for next year for a trainer who always gives his horses time to mature, and much the same is true of Hamad al-Jehani’s Diego Ventura, who gave away lumps of weight in the six-furlong novice, did everything wrong in the race itself and still got up to win by a head

O’Brien himself, meanwhile, to no one’s great surprise, was not here to see Ballet Slippers, an impeccably bred daughter of Dubawi out of a half-sister to an Arc winner, add £8,100 to his prize money total for the year in Britain. His global racing empire has more significant targets this weekend, including a trio of valuable races at Kentucky Downs in the United States and Henry Longfellow’s tilt at the Group One Prix du Moulin at Longchamp on Sunday.

But O’Brien’s domination of the 2024 racing season is so complete that he seems ever present. His first UK trainers’ championship since 2017 has been a foregone conclusion for months, and before racing on Friday, O’Brien had amassed £6.4m in prize money in the title race. Andrew Balding, his nearest pursuer, remains the wrong side of £4m, while John & Thady Gosden, in third, have only just passed £3m.

The only remaining question in the title race, in fact, is whether O’Brien will reclaim the all-time prize money record from the Gosden stable, which banked £8.52m in 2018, a season after O’Brien had set a new mark of £8.34m.

Willie Mullins finally won the National Hunt title in April and when the current Flat season draws to a close, Irish stables will simultaneously hold the UK championship in both codes for the first time.

“It’s just very hard to beat him,” Beckett said, after doing precisely that with Calla Lagoon. “At every Festival meeting, the Ebor, July meeting, Ascot, he’s very hard to beat and it’s just the way it is. We have to deal with it, they are the standard that we all have to aim at.”

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