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British Champions Day: Timeform view on the action

By Rory King

Horse Racing

Mon October 20, 2025 · 2M ago

Timeform's Rory King with his take on the key action from QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot.

Following on from the July Cup being won by a 66/1 shot, a 200/1 winner of the QIPCO British Champions Sprint perfectly encapsulates the state of the European sprinting scene, pretty much a free-for-all this year, in stark contrast to the world’s eastern continents, earlier this morning Hong Kong champion Ka Ying Rising having underlined himself the leading sprinter in the world with victory in Australia’s Everest Stakes.

The mile division has rather descended the same way after Field of Gold had looked so dominant through the first half of the season, Qirat’s 150/1 pacemaking shocker in the Sussex Stakes followed by a 100/1 winner of the QEII.

Powerful Glory wins the Champions Sprint

Fortunately, the meeting’s signature race ensured the ‘Champion’ moniker wasn’t a complete misnomer on an afternoon of wild-priced winners.

This looked the race of the season on paper, Ombudsman and Delacroix – both having a victory over the other this summer – joined by King George winner Calandagan in a heavyweight clash, the like of which is rarely seen in Europe.

In the last 10 years there have been just two previous occasions where three horses boasting a Timeform rating of 129 or higher have run in the same race. The first was the 2016 Champion Stakes where Almanzor saw off Found and Jack Hobbs, and the second being the 2023 Arc featuring Ace Impact, Westover and Hukum. For context, in the same time period there have been five instances of such a clash in the USA and one in the rest of the world (the 2017 Dubai Sheema Classic).

There was depth to the race beyond that headline ratings clash, too, all of which set the stage for the potential crowning of a superstar, and the race didn’t disappoint.

Calandagan draws clear to win the Champion Stakes

Just like those two previous European contests, it was the French-trained horse who came out on top. In many ways he’s the perfect middle-distance horse, having the speed to put himself in a winning position through the first half of the straight and the mile-and-a-half stamina to fend off Ombudsman once that one had got within half a length, the mettle he showed in pulling clear putting to bed any remaining doubts over his attitude that crept in following defeat to Jan Brueghel in the Coronation Cup.

A provisional rating of 133 makes him the second highest-rated horse in the world on Timeform ratings behind the aforementioned Ka Ying Rising, and the breed’s loss is racing fans’ gain because, as geldings, both should be around for some time to come.

British Champions Day: Timeform view on the action

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