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THERE are group races galore at Newmarket this afternoon, but the big betting event for us punters is the Cesarewitch Handicap (3.40) over an extended two-and-a-quarter miles.

Sadly, though, this doesn’t appear to be the race it once was with only a maximum of 25 runners set to go to post, when the marathon normally houses 34. What makes the situation even worse is that 13 of the runners are raiders from Ireland, which puts the state of horse racing in Britain in stark reality.

The raiders have the first three in the betting lists with the Willie Mullins-trained Sea of Sands at the top of the market at around 4/1. The maestro jumps handler landed this famous autumn event three times from 2018 through 2020 with cousin Emmet scoring a gamble with the then 10-year-old The Shunter last year.