Series heads to Haydock for sensational Sprint Cup

The QIPCO British Champions Series rolls onto Haydock Park Racecourse on Saturday for what is shaping up to be a scintillating edition of the Betfair Sprint Cup.

With some of the fastest and most precocious horses in British racing history embedded in the fabric of the race, including Danehill, Dayjur, Green Desert and Invincible Spirit, a strong field of sprinters have assembled to try and follow in the footsteps of the race’s illustrious alumni.

Already a winner in the QIPCO British Champions Series of 2024, Inisherin may well hold the key to the £400,000 contest. Incredibly unexposed coming into his three-year-old campaign, Kevin Ryan’s impressive colt ran with credit in the QIPCO 2000 Guineas before finding his feet over sprint distances in the Commonwealth Cup, willingly responding to the urgings of Tom Eaves to record a comfortable two and three quarter length success.

Connections were confident of a repeat in the My Pension Expert July Cup a month later but Sheikh Mohammed Obiad Al Maktoum’s son of Shamardal was quickly beaten, eventually finishing a disappointing fifth. If able to bounce back to the form he had shown previously, there is no doubt Inisherin would rate as the chief threat to the rest of the field as his long stride and high cruising speed will likely leave him well positioned to pounce given a strong pace.

Amongst the principal dangers is owner-mate Elite Status, who has bounced back from an underwhelming end to 2023 with a pair of accomplished black type victories this season. Having appeared to be an excellent sprinting prospect at two-years-old, Elite Status recaptured his initial promise with a facile success in the Listed Carnarvon Stakes at Newbury in May, before battling on dourly to claim the Group 3 Hackwood Stakes in July.

With natural progression and improvement likely, Karl Burke’s swift son of Havana Grey must hold an excellent chance of providing his trainer with a second Betfair Sprint Cup victory, eight years after his first with Quiet Reflection in 2016. The Middleham-based handler can also count upon the hardy Swingalong who bids to break her QIPCO British Champions Series duck following a series of placed efforts so far this term. Only just denied by Mill Stream in the My Pension Expert July Cup earlier this summer, connections will hope that the consistent Showcasing filly can build on a fourth placed finish in this race last season.

Another filly that has hit the metaphorical crossbar in 2024 is George Boughey’s Believing who is also on track to line up at Haydock on Saturday. A winner of a Group 2 contest at the Curragh in July after finishing fourth in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot, Believing finished strongly to beat all but Bradsell home in the Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe most recently. The daughter of Mehmas should appreciate the slightly stiffer six furlong journey she will encounter at Haydock and is one of the main players in what looks to be an incredibly open race.

A trio of winners at the highest level in Irish raider Bucanero Fuerte, the enigmatic Khaadem and Ralph Beckett’s Kinross are also in contention, whilst the improving Haggas pair Montassib and Lake Forest also look set to take their place in Saturday’s feature race.

Recent Group 3 winner Spycatcher and 2023 runner-up Shouldvebeenaring round off a strong field set to head to post in what is an intriguing renewal of the QIPCO British Champions Series sprint division’s penultimate chapter.