Longest day!

This is the longest day of the year for racing fans, with non-stop action starting at 12.55 CET with the first race at Doncaster (the final flat meeting on turf in Britain this year) and ending almost 12 hours later with the Breeders Cup Classic, the last race of a sensational Breeders Cup card at Santa Anita in California. In fact, if you also follow trotting, racing starts even earlier with the first race at Chartres at 11.45! Quite apart from the Breeders Cup this evening, there are highlights galore, with Doncaster´s November Handicap, excellent jumping cards at Sandown and Wincanton, while the Jnwine Champion Chase, won last year by Kauto Star, is the feature race at Down Royal. There is also an excellent jumping card at Auteuil.

Then in the evening there is an all-weather meeting at Dundalk, in which Pat Smullen has good prospects of catching up with Johnny Murtagh (riding in California) in their battle for the Irish championship. Murtagh led by 7 when leaving for the Breeders Cup, but Smullen had 3 winners on Thursday and has 6 rides tonight, several of them strongly fancied. The other jockeys´ battle has been decided - Freddie Tylicki is now officially champion apprentice wth 68 winners to 67 by David Probert, who is banned from riding today, the last day that counts. Ryan Moore, who has had an unassailable lead for months, is also at the Breeders Cup, but is well clear in the British jockeys table.

There are too many races today for us to analyse them all, but we hope to see ex-German Baila Me run well in the November Handicap, where another German-bred Salden Licht looks a big danger; Paul Nicholls has not made a fantastic start to the season, but launches a strong attack today at his local track Wincanton, and could even go through the card; Notre Pere and Forpadytheplasterer can take the main events at Down Royal; and Emma Lavelle´s Crack Away Jack, 4th in the Champion Hurdle, appears to have a simple task against only 2 opponents on his chasing debut at Sandown.