It pays to be positioned prominently on Ascot’s inner circuit, as we saw when Poptronic stole the 2023 British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes (G1) from the front at big odds last year, and without a lot of pace in this year’s running it’s easy to see a similar scenario unfolding.
Jessica Harrington’s Village Voice can go forward, as seen when she landed the Prix de Flore (G3) at Saint-Cloud a year ago. She bounced back to form with a wide-margin listed success back at Saint-Cloud last month. This requires a career best, but she’s lightly raced for a 4-year-old and the ground is in her favor.
Aidan O’Brien bids for a third win in this race with a trio of runners, including Wingspan , who is a potential front-runner under Sean Levey. She arrives on the back of a narrow defeat in a the Blandford Stakes (G2) last month, when just failing to make all, and her dam, Hydrangea , won this race for connections in 2017 with a career-best performance. The filly is also proven on testing ground, having won her maiden on heavy in April.
Ryan Moore seemingly prefers the claims of Content , who never got into it from off the pace in the Prix de l’Opera (G1). However, she was on an upward curve before that, culminating in a breakthrough group 1 success in the Yorkshire Oaks (G1), and the return to further might help her get back on track.
Grateful is the third runner for O’Brien, entering off her first top-level win in the Prix de Royallieu (G1) Oct. 5. The daughter of dual American champion turf female Tepin, and whose half brother Delacroix won the Oct. 12 Autumn Stakes (G3), will look to notch back-to-back group 1s.
“Grateful is a classy filly with an unbelievable pedigree,” O’Brien said. “Christophe (Soumillon) gave her a brilliant ride when she won the Prix de Royallieu, and he rides again. That was over a mile and six, but this race will ride like more than a mile and a half as it will be so testing, so hopefully she’ll run well again.”
Juddmonte’s Kalpana heads the betting after her impressive success in the September Stakes (G3). Andrew Balding’s filly has been positioned prominently in each of her two recent wins, but William Buick may have his work cut out to get a box seat position from stall 11. Soft ground is arguably the bigger concern, given she’s yet to run on anything slower than good.
The Fillies and Mares Stakes is the penultimate event in the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, and grants the winner an automatic, fees-paid berth to the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T) at Del Mar.
Charyn Hopes to Cap Stellar Season in QEII
Every season an unexpected star rises through the ranks and no horse fits that description better than Charyn as the 2023 campaign draws to a conclusion.
Anyone who identified Charyn as a candidate for flat racing’s best miler ahead of his 4-year-old season deserves the utmost credit. He was 0-7 at 3 and frankly looked exposed at the highest level. This term it has been a completely different story and even a record of 4-for-6 does him a disservice.
Only two superb front-running rides in unusual races from Robert Havlin aboard Audience (Lockinge Stakes, G1) and particularly Mickael Barzalona on Tribalist (Prix du Moulin, G1) deprived Charyn of a perfect six months.
On a day when champions are crowned, Charyn probably deserves this Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (G1). He has danced every dance in the mile division with the exception of the Sussex Stakes (G1) and is as reliable as they come.
That said, perhaps such a schedule will prove his downfall at Ascot. It is difficult for even the most durable types to sustain top-class form from March through to October when the ground turns and his best performances have been on better going.
While his runner-up finish in the Moulin came on ground described as soft, French soft and British soft can sometimes bear only a passing resemblance.
This could be a slog in the conditions and Charyn meets a pair of new rivals with demonstrable soft-ground form. Impressive Sun Chariot Stakes (G1) winner Tamfana has excelled since returning to a mile, while Prague produced a performance bordering on group 1 caliber in the Joel Stakes (G2).
There is also the prospect that some of Charyn’s old foes can offer more. Henry Longfellow is a player on his second place in the St James’s Palace Stakes (G1) as that performance puts him second highest on Racing Post Ratings. He should relish a thorough test at the trip.
Kinross Seeks Second BRitish Champions Sprint
If you can breed for something, it surely exists and Kind of Blue is the third from his immediate family to make the frame in a group 1 sprint at this track. His dam is a sister to Deacon Blues and half sister to The Tin Man , both winners of this race. Before he won this, The Tin Man was second in Haydock’s Sprint Cup (G1) and Kind of Blue did exactly the same last month.
Ascot pedigrees are bound to emerge when more than half of the group 1 sprints for non-juveniles take place here. A win for Kind of Blue would continue the British Champions Sprint Stakes (G1) as the strongest trend of all.
Kinross is back for more in one of his usual quests for big-race autumn glory and Rossa Ryan is confident he will be able to strike again after his agonizing defeat a year ago.
The Ralph Beckett-trained 7-year-old took this impressively two years ago and looked set for back-to-back wins last year, only to be nabbed by a neck by Art Power .
The Marc Chan-owned star showed he remains in fine fettle with victory in the Park Stakes (G2) last month before finishing runner-up behind Ramatuelle in the Prix de la Foret (G1) on Arc day. He makes another quick 13-day return on a familiar path as he bids for a third group 1 triumph.
“He’s doing well,” Ryan said. “He ran a great race at Longchamp giving all that weight away against a filly. We’re going there with the yard in good form and he’s got a solid chance. His draw in stall 18 isn’t ideal but he’s overcome worse before.”
KypRIOs Faces Fresh Trawlerman in Long Distance Cup
Just how good is Kyprios ? It might seem a silly question to ask about a horse who has won eight group1 races, but it’s hard to escape the feeling we still don’t really know the ceiling of his ability. He is already one of the greats, but could he be the greatest?
He has been so consistent that he has a median Racing Post Rating of 120 since the start of 2022, but has proved capable of a lot better than that when it has been needed. He had a highest figure of 128 at Longchamp in 2022 and ran to 124 in the Irish St Leger (G1) that year.
That suggests his median RPR could have been better than 120 had there been a serious rival to test him and that rating has probably been held back by him competing in a below-par era.
However, probably his biggest rival in recent years has been Trawlerman and the John and Thady Gosden-trained 6-year-old is a welcome presence in the nine-runner line-up for the British Champions Long Distance Cup (G2).
Trawlerman is the only horse in this field to have beaten Kyprios and he did it in this contest 12 months ago when fighting back after being headed to get the better of the tussle by a neck.
Kyprios got his revenge when defeating Trawlerman by a length in the Gold Cup (G1) at this course back in June, but the pair were once again a long way clear of the rest and Trawlerman was the only one to give Kyprios a race. That made the score 1-1, so who wins the decider?
Kyprios is coming in after a hard season and returning only two weeks after winning a grueling Prix du Cadran (G1) at Longchamp over 2 1/2 miles, while Trawlerman has had a lighter campaign and is fresh after 121 days off.
