A short span of 25 minutes saw two long-distance classic events being run in England and Ireland. First, at 3:20 p.m. on the afternoon of September 11th, the historic Town Moor in Doncaster saw ten trained-to-the-minute thoroughbreds lined up at the start of the 14-1/2 furlongs Ladbrokes St. Leger, Gr.1, the last of the English classics for 2010. Godolphin's Rewilding (by Tiger Hill) was the evens favourite, but Frankie Dettori's mount ran a bewildering race, fading after making up ground from the rear.

John Gosden tried out blinkers on his consistent ward, Arctic Cosmos (North Light - Fifth Avenue Doll, by Marquetry) and was rewarded with a fluent victory for the 12 to 1 chance. The 47,000 guineas Tattersalls yearling had been selected by Blandford Bloodstock and was ridden in style by young William Buick. Midas Touch (by Galileo) always seems to find one too good for him, as he did here. The 40-1 Corsica (by Cape Cross) was a surprising third, just ahead of dual Oaks victress Snow Fairy (by Intikhab).

Incidentally, given that Epsom Derby hero North Light, sire of the winner, was a staying sort of Danehill (he is out of a Rainbow Quest mare), it was surprising that he was despatched to Kentucky to start his stud career. Resident at Adena Springs, North Light was available in 2010 for the bargain price of US$10,000.

At 3:45 p.m., the progressive Sans Frontieres (Galileo – Llia, by Shirley Heights), mentioned favourably in these columns last month, confirmed his heightened level of form in the Irish Field Irish St. Leger, Gr.1, run on soft ground at the Curragh, near Dublin. Johnny Murtagh, who rode him last time, was claimed by his stable for Flying Cross, so Jeremy Noseda turned to Olivier Peslier to take the reins and the French ace did a perfect job. The winner, a 450,000 guineas yearling, is now headed to the Melbourne Cup in Australia.

Earlier that afternoon, Pathfork (Distorted Humor-Visions of Clarity, by Sadler's Wells) retained his unbeaten record in the boylesports.com Vincent O'Brien National Stakes, Gr.1. Bred by the Niarchos family's Flaxman Holdings Ltd, the colt was purchased by Silverton Hill Partnership at the Keeneland September Sale last year for $230,000, a sum that is beginning to look cheap. Jessica Harrington handles the Kentucky-bred, who was steered by Francis Berry – for both trainer and rider it was a maiden Gr.1 victory. Aidan O'Brien's much-touted Zoffany (by Dansili) could do no better than third.

When fillies go "sour", there is no comeback. Old-timers may remember champion filly Heliantha (by Prince Pradeep) planting at the gates back in 1974. More recently, Sariska (by Pivotal), winner of both the Gr.1 Investec Oaks and Gr.1 Darley Irish Oaks last year, had refused to race in the Gr.1 Yorkshire Oaks last month. Trainer Michael Bell took one more chance and sent her to Longchamp in France for the Gr.1 Qatar Prix Vermeille over 2,400 m. on September 12th after extensive schooling at the gates. However, the result was no different as Lady Bamford's pride and joy steadfastly refused to participate. Sariska was immediately retired to stud.

Continuing Juddmonte Farms' good run, Midday (Oasis – Midsummer, by Kingmambo) outdid Plumania (by Anabaa) by three-parts of a length in the race while delivering the first-ever defeat to the Aga Khan's Sarafina (by Refuse To Bend), who finished third, half a length further behind. Midday became the first British-trained runner to capture this rich prize since Leggera a dozen years ago; she also gave trainer Henry Cecil his first success in the race, and is now headed to Churchill Downs for the Breeders Cup.

North America
The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club ended its 37-day summer meeting on September 8th. Despite the current gloomy economic environment in the USA, the average daily attendance actually increased (by 4.2% over 2009). However, average daily wagering reflected the current harsh realities and fell by 6.8%.

The leading jockeys' title at the Southern California track went right down to the wire – it took the concluding race of the meeting for this to be decided, with Joel Rosario steering home Tiz Argent by a head to nose out arch rival Rafael Bejarano by 57-56. However, the leading trainer contest was not even close as Doug O’Neill was a runaway winner with 31 wins, well clear of John Sadler with 22 wins. O'Neill has been the subject of some adverse comments in the press recently in connection with the conduct of his stable.

An explanation has been found for the recent sub-par efforts of Gr.1 Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver – he is suffering from condylar bruising. Elliott Walden, vice president and racing manager for the colt's owner-breeder, WinStar Farm, explained: "After a couple of uncharacteristic post-Derby efforts, we had Super Saver evaluated by Dr. Larry Bramlage at Rood and Riddle." Dr. Bramlage elaborated, "A bone scan was performed on Super Saver which revealed marked activity in all four cannon bones. The left front fetlock has the most radiographic change with a major bruise on the cannon bone. Once these are resolved, the horse should return to his previous form.” For the time being, the colt has been taken out of training.

The Gr.2 Bowling Green Handicap was run at Belmont Park on September 11th and had seven in opposition for the 11 furlong turf test. In a spectacular finish, jockey Alan Garcia extracted Al Khali (Medaglia d'Oro-Maya, by Capote) from a pocket and only just got up in time over fancied ex-European Winchester (by Theatrical). Canadian-trained Simmard (by Dixieland Band) was a mere head further behind. Bill Mott schools the winner, a big-made rig, who had been sent to Peru as a yearling where he won twice from 3 starts. Thereafter, he was repatriated to the country of his birth upon his purchase by Winstar Farm, who in turn sold him on to the partnership of Brous Stable and Wachtel Stable, his current owners.

Last year's champion female sprinter in North America, Informed Decision (Monarchos-Palangana, by His Majesty) loves synthetic tracks, where her record was 9 wins from 10 starts prior to the start of the Gr.3 Presque Isle Downs Masters Stakes over 6.5 furlongs on September 11th. The public ignored her recent lacklustre effort in the Gr.1 Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga on August 28th as that effort had come on traditional dirt. Sure enough the Augustin Stables standard-bearer delivered her patented stretch run on her preferred surface to prevail by a head over the luckless Dubai Majesty (by Essence Of Dubai). The $150,000 yearling has now banked the healthy sum of $2,194,426!

The Keeneland September Sale – a crucial barometer of the state of the equine market – began on the evening of September 12th. There were some early fireworks when a grand-looking colt by perennial leading sire A.P. Indy out of multiple Gr.1 Balance fetched $4.2 million to the bid of Besilu Stable. The bidding took fully 7-1/2 minutes to complete (well over the norm of 2 minutes) and attracted offers from several interests. The immediate under-bidder was trainer Bob Baffert. Later it was announced that Todd Pletcher would train the colt, whose dam is a half-sister to the undefeated Zenyatta.

Second highest-priced lot of the night was the Giant's Causeway colt out of a half-sister to Minardi and Tale Of The Cat – he fell to the bid of Kaleem Shah, nephew of Western India trainer Syed Shah. The bay made $950,000 and could well prove to be worth the money.

Foreign buying was relatively subdued, with Sheikh Mohammed's representative John Ferguson signing for only 1 lot, the same number as Coolmore's Demi O'Byrne. Sheikh Hamdan's team was busier and took home half a dozen, headed by a $800,000 Bernardini half-brother to Secret Status and Alumni Hall.