All Braced For Champions Day

Ascot's preparation for the latest QIPCO British Champions Day has proven particularly difficult in light of the frequent deluges, but on Saturday all that will fade into memory as the amassed throng anticipate five division clashes from six furlongs to almost two miles. Since this concept was born at Newmarket in 1997, it is fair to say that the moniker has not always delivered what it promises with it being so close to the hallowed G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and staged so often on rain-eased autumn ground. Moving to its current base in 2011, it was blessed with the perfect launch as Frankel (GB) ran amok and his subsequent G1 QIPCO Champion S. swansong in 2012 bestowed even more initial grandeur on the project. Subsequently the fixture has proven more an end-of-season celebration than a consistent coronation of the principals of the various distance categories, but even so that is more than welcome for its many followers.

This year, the fact that there is only one of the leading seven European turf performers on World Rankings in attendance is due to either retirement or the star turns of the grass being targeted elsewhere. It seems that in 2019 QIPCO Champions Day has lost out to ParisLongchamp, but there are nonetheless reasons to be cheerful looking ahead to what has quickly become a national institution. The one top-10 horse in the Longines Best Racehorse Rankings to race on Saturday belongs, unsurprisingly, to Godolphin. In a year that has poured good fortune on the operation at most turns, 'TDN Rising Star' Benbatl (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) has surged back on to the main stage with an emphatic five-length success under a penalty in Newmarket's G2 Joel S. Sept. 27. That demonstrative performance matched his previous effort all the way back in October when getting within two lengths of Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) in Moonee Valley's G1 Cox Plate.

Few if any of Saturday's protagonists throughout the card could hope to get so close to the Australian legend, so the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. is at his mercy on form at least. However, as all are aware, these races are never won on paper and opponents of Saeed bin Suroor's great hope would point to the fact that he came to this venue as favourite for last year's G1 Queen Anne S. at the Royal meeting and trailed in 10th. One major obstacle to the 5-year-old is the testing ground and it could even lead to his withdrawal according to his trainer.

“Benbatl won nicely at Newmarket on his latest start and has done well since. I have been pleased with his work but we know that he doesn't like heavy ground–he ran on it once at Haydock and didn't enjoy it at all,” he said of one of only two Godolphin runners on the card, both of whom represent the Bin Suroor stable. “We have declared him and will check the ground at Ascot on Saturday.”

As October draws on and the nights draw in, soft ground becomes almost an inevitability but brilliance on easy conditions is still brilliance in its own right and anything can happen with it riding like this. While “soft” is seen often even during the summer in Europe, this kind of surface is for the specialists. One who fits into that niche is The Revenant (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who has been shown the way with genuine guile this term by trainer Francis-Henri Graffard. Al Asayl's 4-year-old, who has turned a corner since a much-needed gelding operation at the end of last year, keeps delivering in 2018 and arrives at the QEII with confidence at an all-time high after wins in Saint-Cloud's Mar. 10 Listed Prix Altipan and Mar. 30 G3 Prix Edmond Blanc, the May 30 G3 Badener Meile and the G2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein at ParisLongchamp on Arc Saturday. Jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot is just about the hottest property in his profession at the moment and the sensation of Arc weekend has the potential to enhance his reputation here also.

Graffard, whose Channel (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}) and Watch Me (Fr) (Olympic Glory {Ire}) have provided Group 1 glory for the stable this season, is hopeful The Revenant can hold his own. “Everything is good and I am very happy with the horse's condition,” he said. “We know the ground will not be a problem for him and we are looking forward to the race. It is a step up, but we don't have much option and we are very happy to be running in this race.”

Boudot will hope to get the ball rolling in the first race with Lael Stable's dual G1 Prix de la Foret heroine One Master (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint S., whose three outings in October throughout her career have yielded three wins. Reverting to six furlongs for the first time since the G3 Ballyogan S. last June, the William Haggas-trained mare has underfoot conditions to help her keep tabs on the fast Group 1 sprint winners Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) and Hello Youmzain (Fr) (Kodiac {GB}) and the Irish fairytale prospect Make a Challenge (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). “I think she'll enjoy the ground and she seems very well since winning the Foret,” Haggas said of One Master. “We're coming back in trip, but if they go hard and fade hopefully she'll be finishing strongly. The 13-day gap between her races is not ideal, but she's had only four runs and likes soft ground.”

Of all the underdogs on the card, Make a Challenge would have been the most unlikely less than a month ago as he ran respectably but was beaten in The Curragh's “Bold Lad” H. but he has subsequently jumped up the ratings with two dynamic wins to force the hand of connections. The latest of those came by 4 1/2 lengths in Sunday's Listed Waterford Testimonial S. also at The Curragh and he will again be partnered by Joe Doyle who had retired from the saddle in the summer. “I'm excited and nervous. We'll see how we go,” trainer Denis Hogan said of the remarkably progressive 4-year-old, whose handicap mark has risen from 66 to 111 this season. “It's a big ask and a step up in class, but he deserves to be there. I'm happy with the ground, the draw and the jockey and I'm very happy with the horse.”

Commercial concerns aside, the clash between Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) and Kew Gardens (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G2 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup is the race of the day with Bjorn Nielsen's all-conquering chestnut having to cope with unfavourable ground again. It failed to hinder his progress at the Royal meeting and at Goodwood, but this time he faces a rival whose every step in his career so far seems to have led to this moment. Successful in last year's G1 St Leger and G1 Grand Prix de Paris, Kew Gardens was on course for a meeting with the Gosden staying supremo in the G1 Gold Cup before injury intervened and his staying power remains unknown. His effort when second after a lengthy lay-off in the G1 Irish St Leger at The Curragh Sept. 15 was highly creditable and jockey Donnacha O'Brien is exuding confidence.

“Stradivarius has shown he's the dominant stayer in Europe, but the only one that could possibly give him something to think about would be Kew Gardens, I suppose,” he said. “He has very high-class form over a mile and a half and a mile and six furlongs and he ran a very good race in the Irish Leger off a very slow pace. He has the potential to put it up to Stradivarius, especially with the ground looking like it's going to be very soft. Hopefully he's got a big chance, because he could even improve for his run at The Curragh, while Stradivarius has had a hard summer. Those staying races take it out of you, even though he's been winning them easy.”

Kew Gardens is one of six representatives of Galileo, who since this meeting was shifted to Ascot and re-launched can boast seven winners of the feature races. That is five clear of his son Frankel (GB) and also Dubawi (Ire) and Pivotal (GB), and there are some big prices among his 2019 contingent which include his fast-improving 3-year-old daughter Delphinia (Ire) in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S. His most likely chance rests with Magical (Ire) in the G1 QIPCO Champion S., but whereas Galileo has the edge in sire terms John Gosden and Frankie Dettori are the occasion's dominant pairing and combine in the main event with Coronet (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). Magical and Coronet met here 12 months ago, when the former prevailed by a length in the Fillies & Mares but Denford Stud's homebred endured an exaggerated wide trip giving her year-younger rival six pounds due to weight-for-age on that occasion.

While the Champion is a far-from-vintage affair, the QEII at least has the G1 English and Irish 2000 Guineas winners taking on Benbatl and The Revenant, as well as the last two winners of the G1 Queen Anne S. and a G1 Falmouth S. scorer in Veracious (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Even without Romanised (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), Circus Maximus (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Too Darn Hot (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), this is teed up for a potential miling champion to emerge in a division that has remained open all year. Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) was last seen finishing fifth in the May 25 Irish 2000 Guineas, having asserted his superiority over King of Change (GB) (Farhh {GB}) in the Newmarket Classic three weeks earlier but Donnacha O'Brien was sounding confident as he looked ahead to the challenge. “I wouldn't mind a bit of juice in the ground for Magna Grecia,” he commented. “Obviously we don't know how bad it's going to be yet. By the sounds of it, it's going to be pretty bad and ideally you wouldn't want it to be heavy for any top-class horse. He'll probably get through it better than some, though. I wouldn't be as worried about it for him as some of the others.”

Tony Wechsler and Ann Plummer's Irish Guineas hero Phoenix of Spain (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) is now winless in three subsequent starts, but James Doyle said he thinks this change to the straight track could reignite his fire. “We're looking for him to bounce back to his Irish Guineas form and he hasn't been beaten that far since,” he said. “He has a big, long stride and I definitely see Ascot as a track he will like. He has performed well with cut underfoot and this is one of the most open races of the day.”

Doyle said he was happy that more rain arrived during the early hours of Friday morning for Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) as he returns to the meeting at which he was a disappointing 12th of 13 in the QEII last year. Ideally, the Champion S. gamble would want it as heavy as it was when beating Pondus (GB) (Sea the Moon {Ger}) in the G3 Rose of Lancaster S. at Haydock last time Aug. 10. His rider underlined that on Friday. “He loves it borderline unraceable,” he said. “For him, it's a shame they switched to the inner track as he would have preferred it and it would have hindered the others. I'm sure it's still going to be testing and it's starting to look like a mile and a quarter is the right trip for him. It's a funny one, because if you had told me at the start of the season that he would be almost favourite for the Champion S. it would have been hard to believe, but with ground conditions as they are it brings him right into the mix. He's very straightforward and is tactically versatile, which is a big bonus.”

Oisin Murphy, who will be crowned champion jockey, is back on Deirdre (Jpn), whose sire Harbinger (GB) put up one of the all-time great Ascot performances in the 2010 King George, in the Champion. Her defeat of the re-opposing Mehdaayih (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 Nassau S. at Goodwood Aug. 1 and unlucky fourth in the Sept. 14 G1 Irish Champions S. at Leopardstown came on a livelier surface and Murphy is aware of the challenge. “She'll want the ground as firm as possible to show her best running,” he commented. “She couldn't be in better form and if she does go on the ground she will definitely have a winning chance. It's a question mark for sure, but the team have done a phenomenal job on her.”

Interestingly, Juddmonte are represented by only two runners in the pattern races in Imaging (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and Sun Maiden (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and both are longshots in the QEII and Fillies & Mares respectively. 'TDN Rising Star' Sun Maiden is going over almost 12 furlongs on slow ground for the first time and that combination could bring about improvement in the half-sister to Midday (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) who is one of five progeny by Frankel to race here. Along with lively outsiders Dream of Dreams (Ire) (Dream Ahead) in the Sprint, Mekong (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the Long Distance Cup, 'TDN Rising Star' Veracious in the QEII and Regal Reality (GB) (Intello {Ger}) in the Champion she bids to provide Sir Michael Stoute with a first winner since the fixture moved here in 2011.

One veteran trainer of distinction who does boast an enviable strike-rate at the fixture is Dermot Weld, whose representatives are the aforementioned Imaging and Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) who bid to provide him with a fifth Champions Day success. His Highness The Aga Khan's Tarnawa took the G3 Give Thanks S. at Cork Aug. 17 and G2 Blandford S. at The Curragh Sept. 15 and rates a threat to all in the Fillies & Mares. Weld will have one eye on Leopardstown on Saturday, with the same owner-breeder's Sept. 29 Curragh debut scorer Katiba (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) tackling the G3 Killavullan S.