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May ushers in the first Classics of the current turf Flat season, beginning with the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 6. All eyes will be upon the short-priced favourite George Washington as he bids to bring trainer Aidan O’Brien back-to-back victories in the colts’ Classic following Footstepsinthesands smart success twelve months ago.

In recent years the 2,000 Guineas has been the personal preserve of the Flat’s big battalions with Sir Michael Stoute, Saeed Bin Suroor and Aidan O’Brien dominating the race year after year with a succession of expensive blue-bloods.

This time around it’s the tight-lipped O’Brien who seems to hold all the aces courtesy of the aforementioned George Washington, a brilliant, if at times temperamental, colt who swept all before him as a juvenile and sets out this season to prove he’s not just a two-year-old wonder but can mix it with the best and come out on top as a three-year-old.

Only Barry Hills and Dermot Weld have broken the big boys’ monopoly of the 2,000 and this year it’s Marcus Tregoning who has been cast in the role of party-pooper as he bids interrupt the top guns by training Sir Percy to land the opening Classic. Regarded as the best horse that he’s ever trained by his astute handler, last season’s Dewhurst winner is sure to go close in a race that will be run to suit his talents.

On the same day Newmarket stages the Palace House Stakes, a Group 3 for up-and-coming sprinters and the fast-improving Reverence well be an interesting runner while over at Haydock, the jumps stages a last hurrah with the valuable William Hill Swinton Handicap Hurdle, and Philip Hobbs could hold a strong hand here courtesy of Wellbeing and Motorway, two progressive and late-blossoming timber-toppers.

On Sunday May 7, it’s the fillies’ turn to strut their stuff in the 1,000 Guineas where Gololphin’s Silca’s Sister, Ballydoyle’s Rumplestiltskin and Race For the Stars will do battle with John Gosden’s Nanina for the fillies’ Blue Riband. On the same day Breeders’ Cup hero Shirocco is likely to come up against Sir Michael Stoute’s late-developer Hard Top and the evergreen John Porter winner, Mubtaker, in the Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket. Spring gallop s reports have singled out the Stoute horse for top honours.

Chester’s prestigious three-day meeting follows hot on the heels of Newmarket and the Derby hopefuls will be on show in the MBNA Europe Bank Chester Vase (May 11), with the fillies taking centre stage in the Weatherbys Bank Cheshire Oaks on May 10. Barry Hills has a superb record on this turning track and any horse he runs in the previous two races will be worth close inspection.

On Wednesday May 10 the totesport Chester Cup is the meeting’s big betting race and recent Newmarket winner Mikao set down an early marker for this big staying prize. Four-year-olds often run well here and trainer Barry Hills boasts an excellent record. Friday, May 12, closes the Chester meeting and the feature race for the older horses is the Blue Square Ormonde Stakes landed last year by Day Flight.

The run of Classic trials continues at Lingfield on May 13 with the Letheby and Christopher Derby Trial and the totesport.com Oaks Trials respectively for the real things at Epsom the following month. It isn’t just the Classic colts and fillies that are in the firing-line at Lingfield because the Surrey course also stages the totesport Victoria Cup, a closely fought and always influential 7f handicap that frequently throws up a Royal Ascot winner or two.

Over in France the following day, May 14, the European Flat season raises the volume with the Poule de’Essai des Poulains (French 2,000 Guineas) and the Poulai d’Essai des Pouliches (French 1,000 Guineas) on the same card at Longchamp.
Ballydoyle and Godolphin have begun to target these two important races in recent seasons and their runners should be respected, but Criquette Head-Maarek’s Quiet Royale will be fancied for the ‘Pouliches’ after a satisfactory spin in second at Longchmap the other day.

Flat racing’s domestic caravan rolls on to York for their three-day Dante meeting and the potential Oaks fillies will run in the Musidora Stakes on May 17, the meeting’s opening salvo which is now a Wednesday on account of the fixture moving forward by a single day.

On May 18 the Derby hopefuls will run in the Dante Stakes and it’s worth recalling that in recent times, North Light and Motivator, the last two winners of this race, have gone on to glory at Epsom in just over three weeks’ time, while looking a little further back in the race’s illustrious history, it’s worth noting that Shahrastani, Reference point, Erhaab and Benny The Dip all went on from the Dante to Derby success.

This mile and a quarter Group 2 contest has clearly become a key Classic trial in recent seasons and mustn’t be missed. There’s sure to be a host of top-class performers in contention on the Knavesmire and Sir Michael Stoute has the best contemporary Dante record with two winners and three placed horses.

On the same day as the Dante keep a close eye upon the outcome of the Hambleton Stakes, a valuable mile handicap that has a habit of throwing up the winner of the Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot the following month especially if the Hambleton winner is trained by Sir Michael Stoute.

The final day of the Dante meeting sees the stayers take centre stage in the Yorkshire Cup, a useful pointer to the rest of the campaign’s leading staying races. Alan Swinbank’s stable star Collier Hill, a winner of the Irish St Leger last season, is a likely runner and may well be capable of surprising more fancied horses.

On May 20 it’s the turn of the season’s crack milers to unleash their firepower in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury and this has been a good race for Saeed Bin Suroor and the boys in blue in recent seasons, and it would be no surprise to see them land this Group1 event with Proclamation, who is surely heading for the top after joining Godolphin on the back of a brilliant three-year-old season.

In France the following day Longchamp’s Prix d’Ispahan always draws the top mile and mile and a quarter horses and this a race that mustn’t be missed as a key pointer to some of the season’s top races over this classic ten furlongs.

The month of May rounds off with the Irish 2,000 Guineas on May 27 followed by the Irish 1,000 Guineas on the following day. Both these valuable races tend to go to horses that have raced in the equivalent events at Newmarket and inevitably British trainers hold an excellent record in both races.

Finally, Sandown’s two-day fixture at the very end of the month is always informative with the Henry 11 Stakes for top-notch staying horses on May 29 followed on May 30 by the Temple Stakes for sprinters over the minimum trip and the Group 3 Brigadier Gerard Stakes in which trainer Sir Michael Stoute boats a useful record. Any runner from his yard should be noted carefully.

The quirks of the racing calendar have nudged Newcastle’s Northumberland Plate into the first day of July and there cannot be a better way to begin the month’s racing. Few staying handicaps are as fiercely contested as the ‘Pitmen’s Derby’ and this year’s race is no exception to that familiar rule.

Anyone thinking of having a bet in this grueling two-mile contest needs to pay strict attention to the draw. Year after year horses drawn high race wide at Gosforth Park struggling to secure a prominent early pitch with the result that they are forced to sit and wait at the back of the field while the race unfolds up front. More often than not, the die has been cast by the time a high drawn horse is able to make its belated challenge.

Older horses too tend to rule the roost these days and the times when progressive three-year-olds were able to annex this valuable prize have long gone. The doughty Archduke Ferdinand was the last of the younger generation to win the Plate in 2001 and remarkably, there are no representatives from this age-group in this year’s renewal.

Good recent form is an obvious plus in a race of this nature and Richard Fahey’s Greenwich Meantime and Amanda Perrett’s Bulwark are two talented sorts that rise swiftly to the surface when studying the entries for this year’s race. The former is on quite a hot roll at present for his canny trainer and might well be the one they all to beat in 2006.

Over at The Curragh on July 2 there’s the weighty matter of the Irish Derby to consider though this year’s renewal is already suffering from a bad case of the absentee blues with Epsom Derby winner Sir Percy and unlucky-in-running third Hala Bek both forced to miss the race through injury and the 2006 renewal already looks a below-par affair.

Both Dylan Thomas and Dragon Dancer, the fourth and second respectively at Epsom, are set to fly the flag for the Derby form and this useful pair should come toe-to-toe with Darsi, a surprise winner of a typically open French Derby at Chantilly last month.

The performances of the French three-year-olds’ at pattern level in Britain has left a lot to be desired this season, and it would be no surprise to see them failing once again. Classic form is essential on any potential winner’s c.v and perhaps this year’s Irish Derby winner can be found within the ranks of the Epsom Classic.

The Coral Eclipse Stakes at Sandown on July 8 is famous for its traditional clash between the older and younger generations. The latter age group receives a chunky 10lb weight-for-age allowance and in sixteen runnings of this Group 1 race since1990, the three-year-olds have managed six victories while five four-year-olds have triumphed alongside five five-year-olds. Honours, then, are even across the age groups.

The loss of Sir Percy through injury has probably sunk the three-year-old challenge below the water and it would raise few eyebrows to see an older horse come out on top. The Godolphin stable continues to stutter at the top level and for David Junior, a bitter Royal Ascot disappointment behind Ouija Board, this is a chance to atone for his recent defeat though if the latter lines-up again after her Ascot heroics he may have to settle for a supporting role once more.

On the same day as the Coral Eclipse, Haydock hosts the Lancashire Oaks which is often won by a late developing filly, a category into which Luca Cumani’s talented Princess Nada fits very snugly. She is one to watch out for when the entries are published. Punters should pay close attention to the running of the Old Newton Cup at Haydock, another race in which Cumani holds a terrific record having landed the last two renewals courtesy of Alkaased and Zeitgeist. Scan the entries for his hat-trick seeking runner who may well be the rejuvenated Soulacroix.

Newmarket’s three-day July meeting dominates the middle of the month and the opening day should see a back-to-form Soviet Song land her third Falmouth Stakes on July 12. She is sure to be a cut above the opposition while on the same card the juvenile fillies do battle in the Cherry Hinton Stakes and the Queen Mary Stakes winner Gilded may be hard to beat.

On the second day of the July meeting Hoh Mike, who was poorly ridden by Jamie Spencer when runner-up at Royal Ascot, bids to go one better in the July Stakes while the Willie Muir-trained Enforcer seeks to improve upon his Hardwicke Stakes third in the Princess of Wales’s Stakes. Watch out here for any runner from Sir Michael Stoute’s stable.

On July 14 the final day of the eponymously-titled meeting, there’s the small matter of the Bunbury Cup, a highly competitive seven furlongs handicap. James Fanshawe is poised to bid for compensation with Polar Magic, a runner-up last year to the evergreen and mercurial Mine while Ian Semple is seeking to improve upon his Royal Ascot second in similarly competitive handicap with the plucky and consistent Appalachian Trail.
Ed Dunlop’s Britannia runner-up Easy Air would be an intriguing contender too hailing from stable that has suffered a hatful of near-misses in the race in recent seasons.

The six-furlong Group 1 July Cup is the meeting’s highlight on July 14 and recent results have shown just how volatile a medium the top sprinters can be for backers with winners at 25-1, 12-1, 14-1 and 50-1. A 33-1 winner of the Golden Jubilee rubbed further salt into punters’ wounds at Royal Ascot and in my view betting on so-called top drawer sprinters is something of a mug’s game.

Inevitably a good run in the Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot as well as a bold showing in the King’s Stand Stakes from that same meeting is often a pointer to July Cup success but fathoming just which horses are likely to run well from those races is a difficult business. Perhaps Moss Vale can shine providing he’s a sharper starter than his slow-coach self at Royal Ascot.

York’s John Smith’s Cup On July 15 is one of the best ten-furlong handicaps of the whole season and remains ultra-competitive. Once again the three-year-old generation has found it difficult to scrape a place in the line-up and older horses are preferred. Trainer John Gosden’s three placed efforts from as many runners in recent seasons bodes well for the chances of his stable’s Wild Savannah, a good second at Royal Ascot on his latest start.

Newbury stages the Weatherbys Super Sprint on July 22 and the unmistakable message for punters is to pay close attention to any horse saddled by Richard Hannon, who has won this two-year-old contest on no less than six occasions with three of his winners coming in the last four seasons.

July’s racing comes to a close with the fabulous King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes, Britain’s premier all-aged middle-distance event. This year’s renewal had looked like a shoo-in for Hurricane Run but his defeat in France last time opens the race up and Japanese challenger, the late-developing, Heart’s Cry, Sir Michael Stoute’s progressive Mountain High and Godolphin hotpot Electrocutionist, seem sure to have a big say in the race’s outcome. As for the three-year-olds, well, they are a dying breed in this race with only four horses from that age group bothering to contest the prize in the past four seasons.