There's a top-class card at Ascot on British Champions Day

Expert Panel: Champions Day racing preview including Ascot tips

By Sporting Life

Horse Racing

Sat October 18, 2025 · 2M ago

Andrew Asquith, Matt Brocklebank and Ben Linfoot tackle this Saturday's big questions ahead of QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot.

It looks a cracking Champions Stakes – out of the big three do you prefer Ombudsman, Delacroix or Calandagan?

Andrew Asquith: At the prices, I think Calandagan is the one to be with. The addition of a pacemaker should ensure this is a well-run race and that will suit him well back down to a mile and a quarter for the first time since finishing runner-up in this race 12 months ago. Calandagan has proved better than ever in his last two wins, his superior speed winning the King George for him and he arrives fresher than Ombudsman and Delacroix who fought out the Juddmonte International last time. Hopefully, he doesn’t get too far back given the shortish run-in at Ascot, but the level of his form is on par with the other two, and he looks the value.

Matt Brocklebank: It’s the French horse for me of that particular trio, but I fear Ombudsman most and can understand why he tops the market. Delacroix left it all out there in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown and I wonder if he can go to the well all over again having been on the go since the end of March. Calandagan was unfortunate not to win this race 12 months ago and, given the season his trainer Francis Graffard has had, you’d expect him to be absolutely spot-on as he seeks Champions Day redemption.

Ben Linfoot: A great race is in store but I think Delacroix might just have too much pace for the other two. He looked most inconvenienced by the crazy way the Juddmonte International turned out and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him turn those tables on Ombudsman here. On the good ground his acceleration could be the key factor in the straight and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Christophe Soumillon hug tight to the inside rail and rely on his class to extricate him from whatever scenario unfolds.

Ombudsman, Delacroix and Calandagan

How do you approach Field Of Gold at around 7/4 in the QEII?

AA: If the same Field of Gold who won the St James’s Palace Stakes turns up then it is going to look a big price given he recorded a top-class performance that day. He reportedly finished lame in the Sussex Stakes, so it is a question mark as to whether he can return to such a level of form following a minor setback. Field of Gold is clearly showing all the right signs at home, though, and let’s be honest, he could hardly be in better hands. I personally think he’ll take a fair bit of beating, given he’s a much superior horse to these based on his Royal Ascot performance. It will be interesting to see how he goes in the market, if he drifts to around the 5/2 mark then it may be time to get involved.

MB: We live in an increasingly black-and-white world in which the grey areas get chucked aside a little too often but there’s a big fat grey area right over Field Of Gold isn’t there? He was the saviour of the season in June, having won the Irish Guineas en route to the Royal meeting, but it was John Gosden with the ashen face after a Sussex flop that was soon put down to lameness the colt was displaying early on the following week. Let’s just hope he’s back to peak form and this stable does have a habit of getting it right with such horses when Champions Day comes rolling round. But I can’t take a strong view for or against him at that price as he’s probably more of a 4/5 shot on best form.

BL: On the one hand on his best form those odds are fair and the Gosdens have probably been working back from this day for a long time. A usual soft ground Champions Day would’ve asked a serious question of him but if he’s on song I expect he will probably win. Having said all that we’ve seen him get caught out on a straight track before and his St James’s Palace Stakes win doesn’t look as good now as it did at the time, either. On balance I’d rather take him on with something each-way as it could also be the case that we’ve already seen the best of him.

British Champions Day Podcast

There’s a maximum 20-runner field for the Champions Sprint, who is that going to suit?

AA: There seems to be speed in both the high and low numbers, enough in the low to think that my Weekend View selection Montassib can run a big race. He’s drawn near Spy Chief, who will likely go forward, while Lazzat and Rosy Affair aren’t far away from him, either, and Montassib very much caught the eye over an inadequate five furlongs at Newbury on his return from 11 months off recently. Montassib ran better than the bare result in this race 12 months ago and, provided he isn’t given too much to do like he was that day, the stiff finish at Ascot will suit his fast-finishing style. He’s sure to strip fitter for his recent outing and I’m hopeful of a big run.

MB: Not only is there a big field but there’s a really strong pace on too thanks to the likes of Quinault, Witness Stand and several others including the current market leader Lazzat. I’m going to be drawn into siding with something with form over seven furlongs I suspect and I just wish there had been some rain around as Ten Bob Tony could run a huge race in this scenario, but poor Ed Walker seems to have been tormented by ground conditions all year and it seems to have continued for him this week.

BL: Not only that but there are plenty of pace horses in here too – Spy Chief, Art Power, Quinault, Witness Stand, Inisherin and Lazzat to name six – and given the way this track rides the percentage play might well be to back a hold-up performer. That brings the likes of Montassib, Rayevka and maybe even old Run To Freedom into play, the latter having previous when it comes to running well in this race at a massive price.

How confident are you Kalpana runs to her best in the Fillies & Mares?

AA: There’s no doubt that Kalpana has the best form on offer, but it just niggles me that she was beaten at Kempton and didn’t advance her form so much in the Arc a couple of weeks ago. Admittedly, she didn’t get the smoothest run round on that occasion, caught five wide on the home turn and her effort flattened out in the closing stages. This is a quick enough turnaround, too. I’m taking her on with Waardah, who I think is open to plenty more improvement. She has it to do on the figures, but the amount she has improved in her last two starts suggests she is capable of bridging the gap and a mile and a half could be her optimum trip given she got to the lead so easily and too soon in the Lillie Langtry last time.

MB: You would have to be a fraction worried, although if she does bring her A-game then the rest could be in trouble as that one-length second to Calandagan in the King George was a superb effort. Perhaps those five quite tough defeats this season will eventually take their toll and I like two in here at each-way prices. The first is Wemightakedlongway for Joseph O’Brien as I reckon she’ll enjoy going back up to a mile and a half, while the one that interests me is Danielle. She’s 4lb better off with Waardah from Goodwood and she was bang there with Santorini Star and Consent with a furlong and a half to travel in the Park Hill at Doncaster last time. Those two have filled the first two places in the Group 1 on Arc weekend since and I suspect Danielle will be a player back over 12 furlongs, and especially so if Kalpana doesn’t quite fire.

BL: I’m not that confident at all. I’m a big fan of Kalpana but I wonder how much her season has suffered for it revolving around peaking for the Prix de l’Arc De Triomphe on the first Sunday in October? We will see, but I’ve a feeling we saw Kalpana peak for the year in the King George at Ascot in July and I’d be much more confident of seeing the best of her if the ground was softer, for all that she’s versatile when it comes to ground conditions. She’s got the best form in the race, but I’m not sure she’ll be at her best after a tough race in the Arc 13 days ago and I’ll be taking on her on with one or two here.

Calandagan beats Kalpana in the King George

What’s your best bet for Champions Day?

AA: I think Fifth Column is a good bet in the Balmoral. He has some very strong form to his name, winning a several competitive three-year-old handicaps so far this season. He was drawn on the wrong side in the Britannia at Royal Ascot, coming home first in his group, and again in the unfavoured group in the Cambridgeshire last time, too. Fifth Column was also too keen in the early stages upped to nine furlongs, which affected his finishing effort, and his middle draw should allow William Buick to decide where he wants to go. Based on his York win, where he did well to prevail having conceded first run, a mark of 102 should still be workable.

MB: I backed Siren Suit at the start of the week and still think he represents cracking each-way value at 14/1 in the new two-year-old conditions event. He missed a chunk of the season after a really promising third over this course and distance in the spring, in a race that couldn’t have worked out better. His recent seven furlong all-weather win was little more than a public gallop and I love his profile coming into this event. Words Of Truth will take all the beating but he’s odds-on and I hope Siren Suit is the lurker in the field.

BL: The Gosden forecast in the opening Long Distance Cup, Trawlerman to beat Sweet William. I’m not sure any of the others will stay the trip well enough at this level to trouble the Clarehaven duo.