The ultimate day with something for everyone? This is it

You may have heard a day’s racing described as having ‘something for everyone’ and ended up disappointed. Be assured, this is not one of them.

Think of days when the best Flat performers in the world meet across several Grade 1s on one side of the Atlantic, while on the other side there are races that almost always influence jumping’s greatest prize. This is the one.

The bet365 Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby can admittedly come up short in its brief on occasion, but this is not one of those fallow years. On ratings it is an above-average running and if the contenders were to be gauged by popularity we might not see a better race until the Gold Cup itself.

Having been both awesome champion and plucky loser in his time, Cue Card has become the equine equivalent of a national treasure.

In each of the last two seasons, his Gold Cup dream has started in West Yorkshire and ended three fences from home in Gloucestershire.

This is his third try and, with him rising 12, it is assumed there won’t be a fourth.

The tale of his main rival Coneygree is one of racing’s greatest stories, even if the instalments are so sporadic it feels like they’re being written by James Joyce.

He has already won a Gold Cup and his performance at Punchestown in April would suggest that, despite his well-documented problems, another is not out of the question.

Our Duke heads stellar cast at Down Royal

The Charlie Hall might not even be the strongest Gold Cup trial of the day. The JNwine.com Champion Chase, the feature at Down Royal, contains Irish Grand National winner Our Duke and a slew of those with ambitions of moving between the second and top tier of the division.

Road To Respect is race-fit and relatively speedy, Carlingford Lough has made a career of punishing those who have gone a bit too quick and Outlander was just 10-1, albeit 50 lengths behind, when Sizing John scooted up that hill in March.

Potential stars lurking at every turn

The jump up to the highest level is also the theme of the main supporting races at Wetherby and Down Royal.

The runners in the bet365 West Yorkshire Hurdle are likely to scatter to the four winds afterwards – many could end up over fences. Should any have the measure of Stayers’ Hurdle runner-up Lil Rockerfeller, however, they would presumably persevere with the hurdles experiment a little while longer.

In Down Royal’s MyCarNeedsA.com Chase, another Grade 2, six of the eight have lower-graded level RPRs and, all aged six or seven, the chances are at least one of them has Grade 1 potential. The winner three years ago certainly did – it was Don Cossack.

Those who like to pore over competitive handicaps will be better suited by Ascot, where there are three such races, two Listed prizes worth £60,000 and the £100,000 Sodexo Gold Cup.

There are still a few summer leaves on the tree in the last of those, such as impressive Ludlow winner Braquer D’Or, but this has the look of the first big handicap chase of the winter.

O’Brien and Stoute head the European charge

The Breeders’ Cup has moved an hour or so south from Santa Anita to Del Mar. What changes?

The broad-brush answer is ‘not a great deal’ – it’s still left-handed, sharp, and the best chance of British and Irish success comes from Sir Michael Stoute and Aidan O’Brien.

It is just that little bit tighter than most US tracks, the circuit is shorter than Chester’s and the run-in on the turf track measures just 306 yards.

If you aren’t nippy, you’d better be awake, as Seamie Heffernan demonstrated brilliantly on Highland Reel last year. Going by the betting alone, he is Europe’s best chance of a winner on the night in the Turf, although he goes up against Ulysses, who is normally played only once the commentator has reached his highest octave.

European attentions will also focus on Marsha’s rematch with Lady Aurelia in the Turf Sprint, and on the Filly & Mare Turf and the Mile.

Stoute knows what a good opportunity the Filly & Mare Turf presents and brings back Queen’s Trust, who became his third winner of the race last year, for another crack following a campaign that has had this date virtually stamped on every run.

The Mile is often one of the most interesting races at the meeting, a rare moment at which the home runners and shippers have a roughly equal chance. This year the weight of numbers is in Europe’s favour with the likes of Ribchester, Zelzal and Suedois.

Like the best Hollywood blockbusters, one stands against them all. World Approval has improved through the year and is the undoubted leader of the resistance, which in this race has a better record than you might think.

Will Arrogate return to his brilliant best?

The dirt races are normally reserved for fans of racing Americana, notwithstanding the transcendent appeal of the Arrogate we saw between this meeting and Dubai last winter.

Neutrals in the Classic will more than likely be wishing for a brilliant last glimpse of the horse some thought worthy of comparison with Frankel.

On the dirt, the most interesting European runner might not be last year’s Dewhurst winner (Churchill in the Classic), but this year’s. US Navy Flag has a US streak running through his pedigree, and if able to break quickly from the inside stall would have a puncher’s chance of becoming the first horse to unify the two-year-old belts by taking both Europe and America’s most prestigious prizes in the division.