British Champions Day

Tom Marquand is "95% certain" to be aboard multiple Group 1-winning sprinter Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint S. on Oct. 15, according to owner Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum's racing manager Bruce Raymond. The colt's usual rider, Christophe Soumillon, will be serving part of his 60-day suspension for elbowing another jockey out of the saddle in a race, during that time period. A dual Group 1 winner as a juvenile, the bay's most recent victory was in the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal...

G1 Melbourne Cup heroine Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed {NZ}) will run in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S. at Ascot on Oct. 15, trainer Francis-Henri Graffard revealed on Tuesday. She will be part of a two-pronged attack in that race for the trainer on QIPCO British Champions Day alongside G1 Prix Vermeille winner Sweet Lady (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}). Unplaced in the G1 Prix Jean Romanet to start her European campaign, the 11-time Group 1 winne ran third in the G2 Prix Foy, and was most...

Shadwell's unbeaten Baaeed (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) is reportedly in good order following his recent home work in advance of what is likely to be his final career jump in the G1 QIPCO Champion S. at Ascot on Oct. 15. The aforementioned 10-furlong contest has always been conditioner William Haggas's preferred option for a final start. The Hills brothers have been putting Baaeed through his paces on the Newmarket gallops alongside some Group 1 stablemates, and the colt appears to have come out of his work with flying colours....

British and Irish racing will participate in 17 World Pool events in 2022 with racing fans from around the world betting on the sport's most prestigious flat racing festivals. The race days have record prize money available of £28.4 million and include Cazoo Oaks Day at Epsom Downs for the first time. As a collaboration of global Totes, World Pool enables racing fans from all over the globe to bet into a single pool. A World Pool "Moment of the Day" will be awarded by an industry representative at the...

Breeders' Cup and Qatar Racing have entered into a multi-year partnership that designates Qatar Racing as the official partner of the $2-million GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, starting with this year's running at Del Mar Nov. 6. The deal also adds two races to the 2021 Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" Challenge Series--the G1 QIPCO Champion S. and G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. (Sponsored by QIPCO), to be held on British Champions Day Saturday, Oct. 16 at Ascot Racecourse, will offer automatic berths into the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf...

Multiple Group 1 winner Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) will forego entries at Ayr and Newbury this weekend and instead target next Wednesday's Listed Foundation S. at Goodwood, where rainfall is expected. The 7-year-old gelding with an affinity for soft ground has not been seen since finishing second to St Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr})-and ahead of world co-top rated Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB})-in the G1 Eclipse S. on July 3. Addeybb is on course for a title defense of the G1 Champion S. at Ascot on Oct. 16. "The...

G1 Coronation S. and G1 Sussex S. winner Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never) will revert to the mile distance over which she won those two features for the Oct. 16 G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. after beating just one home in Wednesday's G1 Juddmonte International over a mile and a quarter. The 3-year-old filly, who also won last year's G1 Cheveley Park S., was racing beyond a mile for the first time. "Going up to a mile and a quarter was always going to be a punt," said trainer...

Trainer John Gosden has said that Qipco British Champions Day, where Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) has entries in the G1 Champion S. and G1 Queen Elizabeth II S., is likely to be the 4-year-old's swansong before he goes off to stud. Palace Pier, last year's champion 3-year-old off wins in the G1 St James's Palace S. and G1 Prix Jacques le Marois, is a perfect four-for-four in 2021. Sheikh Hamdan al Maktoum's bay won the G2 bet365 Mile, G1 Lockinge S. and G1 Queen Anne S. before defending his...

A provision has been made that will allow officials to move races on the round course to the inner track at Ascot on British Champions Day should the ground have 'heavy' in the going description at morning inspection. The previous rule stated that the inner course, which is normally used only for jumps races, could only be considered in an abandonment situation. The course will be inspected by Clerk of the Course Chris Stickels as per usual on the morning of the race. If he gives "heavy" in the going...

This weekend's QIPCO Guineas Festival at Newmarket will mark a handful of milestones, not least being the return to its rightful place on the calendar after the pandemic-ravaged season of 2020. Additionally, this year marks a decade not only since Frankel (GB) scorched up the Rowley Mile to one of the most exciting Guineas wins that likely any of us can remember, but also since the Qatar-based, Al Thani family-owned private investment company QIPCO took up the title sponsorship of the Guineas Festival as well as the QIPCO British Champions...

   Still in its infancy but already firmly established as a staple of racing's culinary experience, Ascot's Qipco British Champions Day is back on Saturday with the first of possibly several editions set in the COVID-19 era. No crowds, none of the hoopla that characteristically greets the collection of luminaries in all categories, no atmosphere other than that created by the races themselves. Back in June, the Royal meeting was the first of the country's major festivals to take place in the current void and it came through thanks largely...

Godolphin's MG1SW Benbatl (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) will not take part in British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday due to the projected soft ground. Favoured in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. in 2019, he ran last in very soft underfoot conditions. The QEII or the G1 Champion S. had been options for the English, German and UAE highweight. A winner of Group 1s in Australia, the UAE and Germany, Benbatl will now point to the Dubai World Cup Carnival. He won the G2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 in...