THE first race meeting I ever attended was the September Stakes one at Kempton in 1980. Much has changed since then – not least me – but the fixture is still going strong, albeit on all-weather and with the course itself under threat these days.

The latest running of the September Stakes last Saturday was a tactical affair in which Chemical Charge just got the better of Scarlet Dragon in a sprint finish with both horses recording timefigures of just 54.

A much better time performance came in the card’s other group race, the Sirenia Stakes, in which Invincible Army ran down Corinthia Knight, the first two clear.

The former gets a timefigure of 113, which is joint-second-best by a juvenile in Ireland and Britain this year, and paid a compliment to Sands Of Mali, who had beaten him readily in the Gimcrack Stakes at York.

Time calculations on the round course at Haydock can be problematical, due to a multitude of possible configurations of the home bend, but the wins of both Ballet Concerto in the Superior Mile and Chilean in the two-year-old listed race there last Saturday seemed to be achieved with half-decent times, worth timefigures of 112 and 104 respectively.

Even better came from Remarkable at a rain-affected Ascot, the quirky handicapper defying 9st 8lb to win a valuable contest in by far and away the fastest of three seven-furlong times and earning a 118 timefigure in the process.

The John Gosden-trained gelding “should” be able to win in Group 3 company, though it is possible that big fields, such as he encounters in handicaps, suit him ideally.

If you were looking for just one sectional horse to follow from recent action I would recommend the David Simcock-trained Court Of Justice, who made his debut in the opener on this Ascot card.

The son of Dabirsim, who had been an impressive ‘breezer’ at Arqana, was green early before sweeping past the entire field in a quickening penultimate furlong, only to pay for that close home and be passed by Fajjaj.

Court Of Justice’s overall time was modest, but those sectionals identify him as of listed potential and winning a maiden should be a formality for him.