British Champion day: Preview of 5 season-ending stakes
It has been five years since Magical swept the biggest
year-end races in Ireland and England. Irish Champion (G1) winner Economics may
be on the verge of ending that drought Saturday. That is when he is expected to
be the favorite in the Group 1, US$1.7 million British Champion Stakes at
Ascot.
The Champion is one of the five graded stakes Saturday offering
a combined US$5 million and the last two automatic berths for the Breeders’ Cup
next month at Del Mar.
Saturday’s card on what is forecast to be soft turf begins
at 8:20 a.m. EDT with the featured Champion Stakes at 10:55 a.m., the fifth of
six races. It will be shown live on FanDuel TV and FS1.
British Champion (G1), 1 1/4 miles, turf, 3-year-olds and
up, Breeders’ Cup Turf automatic qualifier, 10:55 a.m. EDT
Economics will face 11 smart rivals led by classy France
3-year-old Calandagan as he tries to emulate Magical’s accomplishment in
2019.
Magical was having her ninth race that season, and she had
run in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1) between the two races. Economics’s 3-year-old
campaign has been much lighter by comparison. He will be having only the fifth
race of his career when he arrives at Ascot unbeaten this year and one of the
most exciting middle-distance performers in the world.
Trainer William Haggas won the 2020 Champion Stakes with a
very different type in 7-year-old Addeybb, but he suffered a shock defeat with
1-4 chance Baaeed two years later. He thought his colt Economics did
particularly well to get the better of Auguste Rodin by a neck in Ireland after
last year’s dual Derby winner had looked to be going the better, but he is
taking nothing for granted and has a healthy respect for Calandagan in
particular.
Haggas said he has no regrets about sidestepping the Epsom Derby
(G1) after Economics’s six-length win in the Dante (G2).
“The Irish Champion Stakes was a very strong race, and
Leopardstown is a very, very complicated track, so you need a lot of luck,”
Haggas said. “I thought (jockey) Tom (Marquand) was exceptional there and he
came in and said Economics was a tough horse as it was very messy. He felt he
asked a lot of the horse at various times, and he didn’t let him down. He’s a
good horse, but it was a tough race, and he’s needed every week to come to his
best for Saturday.”
Haggas is not unduly worried about softer conditions even
though Economics’s three big wins have all been on good ground or faster.
“I’m not going to pull him out because of the ground,” he
said. “He’s won on fast ground this year, and we’ll see whether he copes. I
think he’ll be OK, because I think he’s very versatile, but it will be top of
the list of excuses if it all goes wrong I suppose.”
Asked about the threat that International Stakes (G1)
runner-up Calandagan might pose, Haggas said: “Calandagan is obviously a very
good horse, and he’s a danger to everyone. He was very impressive at Royal
Ascot. I think he’ll need every inch of the trip, but it will be very
interesting.”
Trainer Francis-Henri Graffard was thrilled with Calandagan
at York, where he felt the gelding ran “a fantastic race and accelerated
strongly.” He pointed out the main difference between York and Champions day likely
will be the ground, but he is not concerned on that score.
Calandagan’s jockey Stéphane Pasquier is full of confidence,
saying “it would need something very special to beat him. It would need City Of
Troy to beat him.”
While the pair dominate the betting, it is no two-horse race.
Trainer Aidan O’Brien has chosen to be represented by last year’s St. Leger
(G1) winner Continuous and the year younger Irish Derby (G1)
winner Los Angeles, who most recently ran a tremendous race from the front
when third in the Arc.
Back-to-form Nashwa would also be a threat. John
and Thady Gosden’s mare is a triple Group 1 winner and runs in the Champions in
preference to the Queen Elizabeth II (G1). She is entitled to be all the
sharper for her recent run behind Tamfana at Newmarket when she had been off
the track since March.
See The Fire, third in the Newmarket race, steps back
up to the 1 1/4 miles over which she was beaten by only a neck by Opera Singer
in the Nassau (G1) at Goodwood and fourth in the Eclipse (G1).
“I was delighted with her run over a mile in the Sun Chariot
(G1), and she had some good horses behind her,” See The Fire’s trainer Andrew
Balding said. “She is going to have a long holiday after this.”
Anmaat has to put behind him a below-par run at ParisLongchamp,
but Jim Crowley is inclined to forgive him.
“That’s the first time he’s run a bad race,” Crowley said. “We’ve
no real excuse for that, but the race was run at a very slow tempo, which
probably wouldn’t have suited him. He has to take a big step up on even his
best form, but he’s a Group 1 winner, and he likes cut in the
ground.”
Karl Burke saddles last year’s fifth-place finisher Royal
Rhyme.
“He is in great form, and I am praying the ground is soft or
even heavier,” Burke said. “On faster ground he was only 3 1/2 lengths behind
them in the Irish Champion. On soft ground I’d be very hopeful of turning
around that form. He is getting better and stronger with every race.”
King’s Gambit is stepping up in class and down in
distance.
“His form has been solid all year, second to Jayarebe in the
Hampton Court (G3) at Royal Ascot and third to Arc third Illinois at York, and
coming back to 10 furlongs after York will suit,” King’s Gambit’s trainer Harry
Charlton said. “He fully deserves his chance, and I don’t think he will be far
away.”
Irésine, whose win in last month’s Prix Foy (G2) was his
second in the race, joins Calandagan from France. His jockey Marie Vélon was
the first woman to ride a Group 1 winner in France and has won no fewer than 15
times on him.
“To ride in the Champion Stakes on Irésine is a dream as he
is the best horse of my life,” Vélon said. “Calandagan and Economics are the
best horses of the season, but I will count on Irésine’s experience to beat
them. He will be 100 percent for Saturday, and the ground will be perfect for
him. I can’t wait.”
| Post | Silks | Horse / Sire | Rating | Trainer / Jockey | Last Start / Next Start | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Anmaat Awtaad |
7.80 | Entered | |||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 2 |
|
Continuous Heart’s Cry |
6.75 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 3 |
|
Iresine Manduro |
6.12 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 4 |
|
Royal Rhyme Lope de Vega |
6.59 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 5 |
|
Nashwa Frankel |
7.82 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 6 |
|
Novus Dandy Man |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 7 |
|
Calandagan Gleneagles |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 8 |
|
Economics Night Of Thunder |
6.12 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 9 |
|
King’s Gambit Saxon Warrior |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 10 |
|
Los Angeles Camelot |
6.12 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 11 |
|
Persica New Bay |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 12 |
|
See The Fire Sea The Stars |
5.45 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
Queen Elizabeth II (G1), 1 mile, straight turf, 3-year-olds
and up, 10:15 a.m. EDT
Three-time champion jockey Silvestre De Sousa owes a big
debt to Charyn, who got the Brazilian’s return to race riding in Britain
off to a flying start at Doncaster in March and ought to be hard to beat when
he takes on 12 rivals in this race that serves as the champion mile stakes.
De Sousa, who won the Champion Stakes on Farhh and the 2019 Champion
Sprint (G1) on Donjuan Triumphant, has not ridden for three weeks owing to a crop
suspension, but he has kept himself fit and is due to return to the saddle in
the nick of time with four rides at Newcastle on Friday evening.
Besides returning home for a few days he has been riding out
regularly, and he has had two recent sits on the Roger Varian-trained Charyn, a
ride he initially picked up only because James Doyle was injured in
March.
Charyn won in style that day, and a winning partnership was
born. It saw the pair add a Group 2 at Sandown before wins in the Queen Anne
(G1) over the same straight mile as Saturday’s race, and the Prix Jacques Le
Marois (G1) as well as second places to Audience in the Lockinge (G1) and to
Tribaliste in the Prix du Moulin (G1). De Sousa has also won the 1,000 Guineas (G1)
on Charyn’s stablemate Elmalka, another chance ride, as well as Germany’s 2,000
Guineas (G2) and the Italy Oaks (G2).
“It was great to find a horse like Charyn to take me through
the season,” De Sousa said. “He’s been improving since day 1, when he started
in a listed race, and he has gone on to win a Group 2 and the Group 1s at Royal
Ascot and Deauville. You could say he’s unlucky not to be unbeaten this year as
things went against him in the Lockinge, and it was a similar story last time
in the Moulin.
“It’s been a good season apart from the recent suspension,
and now I’m looking forward to Saturday. It’s been a long three weeks that I’ve
been off, and I don’t agree with it as I’m being punished twice, but I’m back
in time for Champions day, and I’m looking forward to Charyn.”
Facteur Cheval, who was a six-length second to Big Rock in
the QEII a year ago, was only sixth behind Charyn in the Queen Anne, but he
found himself stranded out in the middle of the track that day and so can be
excused. He won the Dubai Turf (G1) in the spring and merits plenty of
respect.
Trainer Jérôme Reynier is expecting a bold show.
“I think you can forget about his run in the Queen Anne
Stakes as he lost a shoe and raced on the wrong side of the track,” Reynier
said. “I thought he ran a good race at Goodwood (third in Sussex), even though
the ground was a little bit too firm for him, and I think we have him in better
shape now.”
Metropolitan, who gave trainer Mario Baratti a first Classic
win when beating Dancing Gemini in France’s 2,000 Guineas (G1), was a
three-length second to Charyn in the Marois. Baratti expects him to get closer this
time.
“Metropolitan has improved again since the Jacques le Marois,”
Baratti said. “He is getting stronger all the time, and I have been very happy
with his preparation.
“I believe we can get closer to Charyn this time. Charyn was
very impressive at Deauville, but in my opinion, he is better on good ground,
whereas I think our horse is better on soft ground, and that will help our
chance.”
O’Brien’s Henry Longfellow was down the field
after a troubled run when favorite for the France Guineas but left that form
behind when chasing home Rosallion in the St James’s Palace (G1) at Royal Ascot.
Last time out he was three lengths behind Charyn in third at ParisLongchamp.
While Charyn faces several old foes, there are also some new
ones, notably supplemented Prague and recent Chariot Stakes
winner Tamfana, who will be joined by stablemate Sirona.
| Post | Silks | Horse / Sire | Rating | Trainer / Jockey | Last Start / Next Start | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Charyn Dark Angel |
7.70 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 2 |
|
Checkandchallenge Fast Company |
6.26 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 3 |
|
Facteur Cheval Ribchester |
7.42 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 4 |
|
Lord Massusus Markaz |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 5 |
|
Poker Face Fastnet Rock |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 6 |
|
Prague Galileo |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 7 |
|
Quddwah Kingman |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 8 |
|
Dancing Gemini Camelot |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 9 |
|
Henry Longfellow Dubawi |
6.67 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 10 |
|
Ice Max Dark Angel |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 11 |
|
Metropolitan Zarak |
7.67 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 12 |
|
Sirona Soldier Hollow |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 13 |
|
Tamfana Soldier Hollow |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
British Champions Fillies & Mares (G1), 1 7/16 miles, fillies
and mares, 3-year-olds and up, Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf automatic
qualifier, 9:35 a.m. EDT
Kalpana and Tiffany, two fillies who have made a
rapid rise through the ranks this year, each makes her first appearance in a
Group 1.
Tiffany has been the flagbearer for Arc-winning trainer Sir
Mark Prescott, and jockey Luke Morris in ticking off listed, Group 3 and Group
2 wins after stepping up to middle distances this year. Her only defeat came
after slipping on the home bend in the Lancashire Oaks (G2) and failing to
catch Queen Of The Pride, who is among the maximum field of 14 for this
race.
Owner-breeder Elite Racing had Soviet Song, who won the
first of her five Group 1s in the Fillies’ Mile at Ascot 22 years ago.
“It’s nice to have another top-class filly,” Elite’s racing
manager Dan Downie said. “This has been Tiffany’s target for a little while.
It’s obviously a big step up, but she is in good form and has had a good
season.”
Kalpana, a year younger than Tiffany, has strong form in the
book with her Pretty Polly conqueror Friendly Soul subsequently winning the Prix
de l’Opéra (G1) at ParisLongchamp.
“She is very talented and in great form,” her trainer Balding
said, “but soft ground is an unknown.”
Juddmonte, owner of Kalpana, has a second bite at the cherry
with last year’s seventh-place finisher Time Lock. Trainer Harry Charlton
can forgive her that disappointment.
“She had a low draw, and they didn’t go much pace which
didn’t suit her,” Charlton said. “She was pinned against the rail and didn’t
like it. She is a big galloping mare and needs space. I think she is stronger
than last year and is in good heart.”
The Gosdens, who won the race with Breeders’ Cup-bound Emily
Upjohn two years ago, rely on Queen Of The Pride, who has family tradition to
maintain as a daughter of 2018 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner Roaring Lion
and 2015 Fillies & Mares and St. Leger heroine Simple Verse.
O’Brien saddles two Group 1 winners. Yorkshire Oaks winner
and Irish Oaks runner-up Content disappointed at ParisLongchamp last time.
Grateful was successful in Paris in the Prix de Royallieu (G1). He also runs improving
Wingspan, who was second in a Group 2 at the Curragh last month.
War Chimes comes into the race with the joint longest
absence to overcome, but her trainer David Menuisier said this was by design.
“We gave her a break after the Irish Oaks and decided to go
straight for the Fillies & Mares,” he said. “She hung that day, but she’d
had a busy time finishing third at Epsom, and she was just a bit tired.”
The Aga Khan’s Sumiha represents trainer Dermot
Weld, who has enjoyed an impressive three wins on Champions Day from only 14
runners.
Quantanamera represents leading Germany trainer Andreas
Suborics.
| Post | Silks | Horse / Sire | Rating | Trainer / Jockey | Last Start / Next Start | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Doha Sea The Stars |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 2 |
|
Quantanamera Lope de Vega |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 3 |
|
Queen Of The Pride Roaring Lion |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 4 |
|
Sea Theme Sea The Stars |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 5 |
|
Sumiha Sea The Stars |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 6 |
|
Thunder Roll Night Of Thunder |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 7 |
|
Tiffany Farhh |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 8 |
|
Time Lock Frankel |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 9 |
|
Village Voice Zarak |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 10 |
|
Content Galileo |
7.06 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 11 |
|
Grateful Galileo |
6.12 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 12 |
|
Kalpana Study Of Man |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 13 |
|
War Chimes Summer Front |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 14 |
|
Wingspan Dubawi |
0.00 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
British Champions Sprint (G1), 6 furlongs, 3-year-olds
and up, 8:55 a.m. EDT
Sprint Cup (G1) winner Montassib and July Cup (G1)
victor Mill Stream head a star-studded field of Group 1 performers.
The 2022 winner Kinross, who is running in the
Champions Sprint for a fourth time, and the 2023 winner Art Power, who
beat Kinross by a neck last year and will be making his fifth appearance in the
race, also are present in a maximum field of 20.
Montassib has been a revelation since dropping to six
furlongs. Haggas, who also fields Unequal Love who was third in the
Haydock race, is hoping the 6-year-old can find more improvement to confirm his
head defeat of the reopposing Kind Of Blue.
“You could say he is still relatively unexposed at six
furlongs as it took two years to drop him back to the trip,” Haggas said. “He
has upped his game now we’ve got that right. He keeps pricking his ears when he
gets to the front, so you always think there is something left. We will find
out, but he will do well to beat Kind Of Blue again.
“Kind of Blue was on the speed at Haydock and maintained it.
I think he will be hard to beat. Unequal Love ran a great race at Haydock, but
I’m concerned about the really soft ground for her.
Karl Burke adds a talking point with three runners a month
after saddling the first three home from three runners in the Ayr Gold Cup. His
trio of Elite Status, Swingalong and Spycatcher all were involved
in the Sprint Cup, in which Burke felt both a track and pace bias counted
against them. All three are capable of better, and Spycatcher and Swingalong
ran well in third and fourth in the Champions Sprint 12 months ago.
“They were definitely on the wrong side of the track at
Haydock,” Burke said. “Swingalong went too fast on the slowest ground as well,
and Elite Status traveled best going to the final furlong but had again raced
up with the pace. All of them are in great form, but Elite Status would want
drying ground.”
Balding-trained Flora of Bermuda, who was a
fast-finishing fifth in the Haydock race, also is re-opposing.
Shouldvebeenaring is having his racing swan song before
joining the Irish National Stud’s stallion roster.
“We are going to try to get that Group 1 that he more than
deserves,” said Tom Palin, manager of owner Middleham Park Racing. “He’s been
very unlucky, and he has been a joy of a horse who gives his all. He will
probably not get his ground, but it’s a great game, and strange things can
happen.”
Beauvatier has been in the money in three Group 1s this
year, the latest a third in the seven-furlong Prix de la Forêt at Longchamp this
month, adds French flair. Moss Tucker and Bucanero Fuerte are
Group 1 winners representing Ireland.
Audience, who is something of an unknown quantity at
this trip, is another Group 1 winner, having beaten Charyn over a mile in the Lockinge.
British Champions Long Distance Cup (G2), 1 15/16 miles, 3-year-olds
and up, 8:20 a.m. EDT
Kyprios and Trawlerman, who already have lit up
Ascot twice with thrilling duels, are set to give Champions day another rousing
start when heading a field of nine.
Two-time Ascot Gold Cup (G1) winner Kyprios is set to start the
afternoon’s shortest-priced favorite as he bids to stretch this year’s unbeaten
run to seven races and to avenge last year’s narrow defeat at the hands of
Trawlerman. It’s sobering to note that his trainer O’Brien has not had a winner
from 26 runners since Magical won the 2019 Champion.
O’Brien, already assured of another trainer title in Great
Britain this year, had six possibles in this race after Monday’s confirmation
stage and also saddles 3-year-old The Euphrates, who picked up a valuable
handicap prize last time in the Irish Cesarewitch.
Kyprios was on the comeback trail following a
career-threatening injury when Trawlerman beat him last year. This time he
arrives the undisputed champion stayer, unbeaten in six races, including the
Gold Cup from Trawlerman at Ascot, the Goodwood Cup (G1) and the Prix du Cadran
(G1), all of which he also won in 2022.
Trawlerman, trained by the Gosdens, has not raced since
Royal Ascot. He is joined by stablemate Sweet William, who was a remote
third in this race last year but has been in great form since and beat triple
Long Distance Cup winner Trueshan easily in the Doncaster Cup (G2) last
time.
Tom Clover is among those hoping to spoil the party with Al
Nayyir, who joined him this year via Dubai and France. Al Nayyir was beaten narrowly
by Vauban in the Lonsdale Cup (G2) at York on his first start for the stable and
then romped away with the Jockey Club Rose Bowl on soft ground at Newmarket
last month.
“He worked on Sunday morning and seems really well in
himself,” Clover said. “If he can repeat the two runs he has had for us, we
would be hopeful of having a good chance. He is ground versatile as well.”
Menuisier can excuse Caius Chorister her recent
race at ParisLongchamp.
“She was traveling sweet when another runner came on her
outside three furlongs out,” Menuisier said. “She felt entrapped and tried to
run away, so ran her race in the false straight and had nothing more to offer.
She’d beaten the winner (Grateful) at Goodwood.
“With Kyprios running we are just going there for the bread crumbs,
but she has some of the best form of the others, and finishing second or third
would be great.”
Royal Ascot winner Belloccio represents Willie
Mullins, and the field is completed by Burdett Road, the one-time
Triumph Hurdle (G2) favorite who was revelation when switched to front-running
tactics last time at Newmarket.
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