Almaqam and Apollo One

On the radar in September: Horses to follow at Doncaster, Newmarket and in Ireland

Horse Racing

Mon August 31, 2026 · 5d ago

Ben Linfoot is looking forward to September's action and he selects a quartet of horses he's looking out for in the month ahead.

The summer racing roadshow may have ground to a halt at York, but as the kids go back to school this week and we head towards the autumn the Flat season enters a crucial period in both England and Ireland.

September is a great month on the turf, particularly when it comes to the two-year-olds, while festivals at Doncaster, Ayr and at Irish Champions Weekend keep the action coming thick and fast.

Prestigious handicaps like the Ayr Gold Cup and the Cambridgeshire take place in September, too, and while we’ll likely get a mix of ground with the weather changeable at this time of year that tends to only enhance the punting opportunities.

Here are four on my radar for September’s action.

APOLLO ONE (Portland Handicap, Doncaster, September 12)

Apollo One went into York looking a very well-handicapped horse, but after being beaten by 30 horses in his previous three races he had something to prove. At eight-years-old, was he a back number?

His run in fourth in the ultra-competitive Hong Kong Jockey Club World Pool Handicap at the Sky Bet Ebor Festival suggested not. Ridden with restraint by Colin Keane, he stayed on strongly from two furlongs out to go from near last to fourth, looking every inch a player off a mark of 91 going into September.

The handicapper has dropped him another pound to 90, so he’s now fully 12lb below the 102 mark he ran off when runner-up in last year’s Portland Handicap at Doncaster. The rare distance suits him well and, right at home with a bit of cut in the ground, he looks a major player for the Town Moor handicap again this year.

GENTLE HURRICANE (Champagne Stakes, Doncaster, September 12)

Another one who caught the eye at York was Andrew Balding’s Gentle Hurricane in the Tattersalls Acomb Stakes, form that received a boost after the fourth home, Alfred Wallace, landed the Solario Stakes at Sandown on Saturday.

Haffner was an impressive winner on the face of it, winning by two lengths for Aidan O’Brien, but that was the fourth run of his career and he fully utilised that experience with a streetwise performance under Ryan Moore.

Gentle Hurricane was the one to follow him home in second place, on just the second start of his career, but he seriously improved on his debut win at Salisbury with the promise of more to come.

A sizeable colt who might just love a bit of cut in the ground, he’s firmly on the shortlist for the Champagne for a yard who won the Doncaster race with Acomb winner Chaldean back in 2022.

ALMAQAM (Irish Champion Stakes, Leopardstown September 12)

The most exciting thing about Almaqam’s heroic effort in second in the Juddmonte International was with a view to what he could do on some softer ground in the autumn.

Ed Walker has been unlucky in that he has very rarely had an opportunity to run Almaqam over 10 furlongs on softer ground in his career – and when he does get that chance he could take some stopping.

Maybe that will be in the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown, maybe it won’t. Much will depend on the weather, you would think.

But Almaqam has already travelled over to Ireland and won a Group 1 this season, so if he does get the green light, and if there is a bit of rain about, he could ‘do an Economics’ and wrestle the Irish Champion out of Aidan O’Brien’s grasp.

FIFTH COLUMN (Cambridgeshire Handicap, Newmarket, September 26)

Finally, the Gosdens are usually worth following come September, and this year a record-extending sixth Cambridgeshire will likely be on the agenda for more than one from the Clarehaven yard.

Gavriel is the one for them in the antepost market, the unexposed son of Frankel 10/1 second favourite at the time of writing after an eyecatching run in second in a Kempton novice on August 5, as you would think he would get in towards the bottom of the weights from a mark of 95.

He is undoubtedly interesting, but stablemate Fifth Column is a more attractive betting proposition at current odds of 33/1.

The Godolphin-owned four-year-old was sent off 11/2 for last year’s Cambridgeshire, only to be too keen before finishing in midfield, but he looks an improved horse this year judging by his very good second over the Cambridgeshire course and distance in May.

At Royal Ascot he raced on the unfavoured far side in the Royal Hunt Cup, but he wasn’t beaten far. Not seen since then, it would be no surprise if he’s been put away with the Cambridgeshire in mind.

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