With 2015 on the horizon, Yorkshire racegoers have the chance to witness possible equine stars of next year on the Flat, with Redcar, York, Pontefract and Doncaster all staging important and informative races for precocious two-year-olds. For Jump Racing fans, this month sees Wetherby’s National Hunt season get underway. Add to the mix, Britain’s richest-ever raceday in the form of Ascot’s QIPCO British Champions’ Day on Saturday, 18th and Europe’s most valuable race, The Prix de l’Arc De Triomphe at Longchamp on Sunday, 5th, the importance and significance of October for racing is evidently clear. 

 Redcar’s biggest day of the season on Saturday, 4th, features one of the richest races in Europe for juveniles – The totepool Two-Year-Old Trophy – a Listed race for youngsters with guaranteed prize money of £150,000. Yorkshire-trained horses have a good record in this valuable contest over the sprint distance of six furlongs; indeed the last four winners have been trained in the county, with Great Habton (Malton)-based Tim Easterby supplying the last two winners in Ventura Mist (last year) and Body And Soul (2012). Bogart (trained by Kevin Ryan at Hambleton near Thirsk) prevailed in 2011, while Ladies Are Forever landed the prize in 2010 for Malton-based Geoff Oldroyd. The Guisborough Stakes – another Listed race – is the chief supporting contest on this special day at Yorkshire’s seaside racecourse, which also includes The Racing UK Straight-Mile Championship Final. There are further meetings this month at Redcar on Friday, 17th and Monday, 27th. 

Another very successful season at York concludes with the two-day October meeting on the Knavesmire – Friday and Saturday, 10th & 11th. It’s ‘Countryside Raceday’ on Friday, while on the Saturday afternoon, sprinters take centre-stage in The Coral Sprint Trophy (a £75,000 Handicap) and leading two-year-olds take part in the Rockingham Stakes – a Listed race named after Lord Rockingham, twice Prime Minister of Britain and member of The York Race Committee.

 The honour of staging Britain’s final Group 1 race of the year, The Racing Post Trophy, on Saturday, 25th, falls as usual to Doncaster. This £200,000 contest for Europe’s leading two-year-olds should attract possible Classic and other big-race contenders for next season. Recent Derby winners, Authorized, Motivator and High Chaparral all won this race as juveniles before going on to Classic success at Epsom the following year. Last season’s winner, Kingston Hill was runner-up in the Derby at Epsom in June and by the time you read this, the colt could have won the Ladbrokes St. Leger Stakes – the final Classic of 2014 at Doncaster in September. The main supporting race on Saturday, The Doncaster Stakes, a Listed race for two-year-olds produced a future Classic winner last year in Night Of Thunder, who went on to win this season’s 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket in May. During the afternoon, the Final of the ‘Best-Dressed Lady’ competition on the Yorkshire racecourses is a highlight, with a stunning parade of the ladies who won their respective competitions on each of the individual Yorkshire racecourses this season. The prizes for the overall winner include a luxury spa weekend for two at the Best Western Premier Mount Pleasant Hotel Doncaster, a £500 fashion voucher courtesy of Yasmine of Bawtry & Epworth and diamond jewellery from lovevintagediamonds.com. This day is the second leg of a two-day fixture at Doncaster, with Town Moor in action on the Friday (24th) 

Pontefract’s 2014 campaign concludes with a couple of Monday meetings – 6th and 20th. The Phil Bull Conditions Stakes, a contest for stayers (which remembers the ‘Sage of Halifax’ – Founder of the Timeform Organisation, the renowned racing form experts) is featured on the first Monday, while the principal race of the final fixture at the West Yorkshire track is the 22nd running of The totepool Silver Tankard Stakes – a Listed race for leading two-year-olds – won last year by Lady Heidi, trained at Middleham by Philip Kirby. 

Racing on the Flat continues at Catterick with a trio of meetings at the North Yorkshire track – Tuesday, 7th, Saturday, 18th and Tuesday, 28th. The totepool Catterick Dash – a valuable Handicap race for sprinters – is the highlight of the Saturday fixture, a day when racegoers attending the meeting will be able to see the action from QIPCO Champions’ Day at Ascot on the giant screen. 

 Wetherby’s 2014/15 season over Jumps begins on Wednesday, 15th – the annual Spinal Research Charity Day, which features The Bobby Renton Handicap Chase – a race which commemorates a former Yorkshire trainer, who trained Freebooter to win the 1950 Grand National from his base near Ripon. 

The first leg of Wetherby’s flagship meeting – the two-day Bet365 Charlie Hall Chase fixture – takes place on Friday, 31st. A pair of Listed races are the highlights on the opening day, with highly-rated young hurdlers lining up in The Weatherbys Hamilton Insurance Wensleydale Juvenile Novices’ Hurdle for three-year-olds (won last year by Royal Irish Hussar from the yard of last season’s champion trainer over Jumps, Nicky Henderson) and The bet365 Handicap Chase – a race over fences which produced a Yorkshire-trained winner last year – Ultimate – from the Malton stable of trainer Brian Ellison.