Sprint king Charlie Hills has rising star Khaadem up for the Cup at Haydock

Forget a troubled week, enjoy the weekend and take to the Hills – or rather his latest sprint superstar.

It has been a tricky few days for Haydock in the build-up to its biggest day of the Flat season.

First came the headache caused by reading of a likely Cyrname v Altior clash at Ascot, just the thing to steal the thunder from Haydock’s Betfair Chase on the same November afternoon.

Then there was the late announcement of a sponsor for the Sprint Cup – it was only on Wednesday afternoon that support was secured from old allies Betfair.

And Friday morning brought a hammer blow as ante-post favourite Advertise was ruled out by a bad scope and Aidan O’Brien withdrew thrilling July Cup winner Ten Sovereigns due to the soft ground.

But Charlie Hills also knows a thing or two about thrilling sprinters, as anyone lucky enough to see the outstanding Battaash bolt up in the Nunthorpe Stakes a fortnight ago will remember.

Battaash blows away his rivals at YorkCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

That was the second leg of a remarkable August sprint double for the trainer whose Khaadem had won the Stewards' Cup in breathtaking style earlier in the month.

Backed into a short-looking 4-1 for one of the most competitive handicaps of the season, the three-year-old made those odds look generous after showing a blistering turn of speed.

The fact he hit the front only 100 yards out yet was still able to go nearly three lengths clear by the line suggested strongly that Khaadem was an awful lot better than a handicapper, and this was immediately nominated as his next target.

This will be a good test against many a proven top-level sprinter. O'Brien still has July Cup third Fairyland in the field for one of just a handful of British Group 1 races he has yet to win, on a track where he has never trained a winner.

Weather worries clearly inspired an ante-post move for Commonwealth Cup third Hello Youmzain, whose Group 2 win on soft ground last autumn seems to have beguiled punters.

Hello Youmzain: proven on soft groundCredit: Racing Post / Scott Burton

But extensive drainage and redevelopment work has taken place since speedsters such as Oasis Dream and Fleeting Spirit were bogged down in gluey conditions and beaten here in the early part of the century.

There is now a choice of tracks, Saturday's runners will be the first to use the fresh ground on the stands' side home straight since the Rose Of Lancaster Stakes meeting.

With no significant rain expected from Friday morning onwards, underfoot conditions should not be the talking point after the race. This is the Betfair Sprint Cup, not the Betfair Chase.

Best you can hope for in September

This time last year Kempton attracted the two horses who topped the world rankings list published last month – 12 months on its star turn is one of the forgotten heroes of 2018.

Best Solution is no Enable or Crystal Ocean, the top-class one-two in last season's Sun Racing September Stakes, which must have been the best Group 3 race run anywhere on the planet for many a year.

But the Godolphin globetrotter is not far off them on Racing Post Ratings, having won two Group 1s in Germany, then landing the Caulfield Cup in Australia before finishing eighth in the Melbourne Cup.

He has been given ten months to recover from an arduous 2018 campaign, which had begun with a successful stint in Dubai and also took in victory at Newmarket last July.

Now he has the chance to earn a crack at Enable herself by winning the first of numerous Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe trials coming up this month.

Will lightning strike twice four times?

Anyone who enjoys backing history to repeat itself has a potentially lucrative four-timer staring themselves in the face at Haydock.

Four horses who won on the track's richest Flat card of the season last year are back to try to land the same race 12 months on and our betting forecasts suggest it could be around a 3,500-1 payout if they all go in again.

Admittedly, The Tin Man has it to do in the Sprint Cup, without victory since last year's triumph and attempting to become only the second multiple winner after Be Friendly, who took the first two runnings in 1966 and 1967.

The Tin Man (No.6) beats Brando (1) at Haydock 12 months agoCredit: John Grossick

But Here Comes When will relish the ground in the Bet In Play On The Betfair Exchange Superior Mile Stakes, in which his rivals include Great Scot, who won the two-year-old race at this meeting last season.

Reshoun is another who will be suited by conditions and he is only 3lb higher in the weights than when winning the Betfair Exchange Old Borough Cup last year.

And if those three go in, a lot of money will be riding on the shoulders of Callum Rodriguez as he takes his first mount since serving a six-month drugs ban on Intense Romance in the Betfair Exchange Be Friendly Handicap. Welcome back!

Love goes deep in search of huge payday

A season which began with victory off a BHA mark of 64 in a handicap worth £3,880 to the winner at Nottingham in April could take another amazing turn tonight.

Love So Deep has done nothing but progress since that spring success, winning a Listed race at Newmarket last month, then going close in Group 2 company at Deauville.

The filly bought for 50,000gns last December has earned nearly £69,000 in eight runs for Jane Chapple-Hyam this season and could really hit the jackpot in New York.

Her trainer says she was 'intrigued' by the $750,000 purse in offer in the first running of the Jockey Club Oaks Invitational Stakes at Belmont. That intrigue will become huge delight if her filly gets in the money this evening.

Key statistic: All 30 three-year-olds to run in the London Mile Handicap Series Final at Kempton in the last ten years were beaten – worth remembering if you fancy Felix The Poet, Kuwait Currency, Mayfair Spirit or Motawaj today.

1.50 Haydock
Better Odds On The Betfair Exchange Handicap
1m6f
Moon King, unbeaten since being gelded, tries to make it six from six in 2019 and the Queen's Calculation is on a four-timer, but Melrose Handicap second First In Line tops the betting in a hot race.

2.05 Kempton
Sun Racing September Stakes (Group 3)
1m4f
Last year's Caulfield Cup winner Best Solution takes on last year's November Handicap winner Royal Line, with popular roan Thundering Blue attempting a first victory in nearly a year.

2.25 Haydock
Bet In Play On The Betfair Exchange Superior Mile (Group 3)
1m
Smart miler Sharja Bridge has his first run since being gelded, taking on the upped-in-class Raising Sand who won the International Handicap at Ascot.

2.45 Ascot
Cunard Handicap
7f
Last year’s Victoria Cup winner Ripp Orf has a victory and three places to show from four further tries over 7f here since and is reunited with Jason Watson, his last winning jockey.

3.15 Kempton
Sun Racing "London Mile" Handicap (Series Final)
1m
Kasbaan repaid some of the 20,000gns the Horse Watchers paid for him in July when winning over course and distance on Tuesday and he’ll put his shrewd owners well ahead of the game if he defies a penalty in this £70,000 event.

3.35 Haydock
Betfair Exchange Old Borough Cup Handicap
1m6f
Iain Jardine has won this £100,000 contest for Scotland twice in the last four years and compatriot Keith Dalgleish aims to do the same with hat-trick-seeking Alright Sunshine.

3.55 Ascot
Lavazza Stakes
1m4f
Fast-improving Baasem has been put up a total of 20lb by the handicapper after winning his last two races by an aggregate of 21 lengths. Will it be enough to stop his completing the hat-trick?

4.10 Haydock
Betfair Sprint Cup Stakes (Group 1)
6f
Last year's winner The Tin Man and runner-up Brando take on progressive three-year-olds Khaadem and Hello Youmzain

Saturday cards and betting

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