For the avoidance of doubt, Champions Day at Ascot is a fabulous afternoon showcasing the sport, a relatively new concept still, but a racing innovation that has worked beyond question.
That said, the only undisputed champion on display this year was Baaeed and he proved to be a let-down, losing his unbeaten record on the final start of his career.
There might though have been some of next year's champions on display.
Take Emily Upjohn. She was about the most impressive winner on the card, gaining a deserved victory at the highest level after she lost the Oaks narrowly through no shortcoming of her own.
Physically, Emily Upjohn looks the sort to make an even better four-year-old. She appeared to benefit from the return to softer ground as well, so it's not fanciful to see a route from Ascot in October 2022 to Longchamp and the Arc in 12 months' time.
The ground being softer than it has been for most of the top races through the summer and early autumn generally had an impact on fortunes during the afternoon. The sons of New Bay, Bayside Boy and Bay Bridge, were a pair who appreciated under foot conditions. Bayside Boy may have gone off at 33/1 for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, but he was better than the result in a strong St James's Palace Stakes and the form of the listed race he won at Sandown last time has been boosted by the placed horses since.
Bayside Boy did well to win too, given he had quite a bit to do to overhaul the pacemakers late on, showing a good turn of foot in the process. He will hopefully be in training next year, and may be underestimated, initially at least, because of the price he went off at here, but there seems no reason to question the performance.
It helped, obviously, his cause that the favourite Inspiral failed to fire. Her rider Frankie Dettori was inclined to blame her very slow start for her defeat, but that looked from the outside to be a symptom rather than a cause. She was able to recover the ground forfeited pretty readily, due to a slow early pace, and was in a similar position to the winner when the race took shape, but she was unable to pick up nearly so well as he did.
Inspiral was sweating and edgy beforehand, which may have impacted her performance. Rather like Baaeed, her lacklustre showing here shouldn't detract from the quality of her victories early in the campaign.
The most exciting race of the afternoon was the Long Distance Cup, in which Trueshan and Coltrane had a ding-dong battle for the second time in little over a month. Coltrane came out on top by a neck in the Doncaster Cup and Trueshan reversed placings by even less, a head, this time. The race was obviously missing Kyprios, whose four Group 1 victories entitle him to be viewed as the champion stayer.
However, his narrow wins in the Gold Cup, Goodwood Cup and Irish St Leger, might be a better guide to what he might do in the Cup races next season than the 20-length rout of the opposition in the Cadran.
The previous week at Newmarket we had Future Champions weekend. This again was something of a misnomer, with the season's clear best juvenile, Little Big Bear, not in the line-up for the main event, the Dewhurst. They bet 5/2 the field, which is unusual for a race that often confirms the best two-year-old around.
The winner Chaldean isn't that, but there's a lot to like about him, an uncomplicated sort who has answered positively every question asked of him while thriving physically through the campaign.
Chaldean went off joint favourite with Nostrum, who has earned good notices here previously. At first glance, Nostrum was a little disappointing, finishing only third, fading late after looking a big threat. Perhaps he was just wanting for experience against a colt with the winner's quality and experience. Nostrum, such a good-looking colt, remains an exciting prospect and has good prospects of winning at a high level next year.
Although their Dewhurst representative Naval Power was amiss (bled), the rest of the afternoon on the two-year-old front belonged to Charlie Appleby and Godolphin. Flying Honours was seen to much better advantage in a truly-run Zetland Stakes over an extra two furlongs than he had been in the Royal Lodge burn-up two weeks previously; Silver Knott also benefited from a step up in trip in landing the Autumn Stakes; and Desert Order got himself out of trouble with a good turn of foot to carry top-weight to success in the nursery.
As usual with this yard, the trio have plenty of quality about them. The well-made Flying Honours is towards the head of the Derby lists, but isn't blessed with speed and already looks like he might be a St Leger type, which is a cruel thing to say about any colt nearly a year before the event. Silver Knott made experience and stamina count in winning over a mile, so he too seems likely to be going up in trip (his dam won the Park Hill). Silver Knott might just be the better Derby prospect of the pair.
Silver Knott, who was conceding 3 lb, made stamina and experience count against Epictetus in the closing stages of the Autumn Stakes. The attractive runner-up is entered in both the Futurity and the Horris Hill this coming weekend, the latter, over a furlong shorter, might be the better option.
Desert Order, who won the Convivial Maiden at York, is a pattern winner in the making. His pedigree suggests he'll stay at least a mile and a quarter, but he might win a good race over shorter first. Given the winning margin didn't reflect his superiority, the European Free Handicap might be an option in the spring.
The eyecatcher of the day was Mascapone, who finished fourth behind Desert Order. On nursery debut, he travelled smoothly out the back, but then found himself with no room, too far off the speed once his rider, Jamie Spencer, could shake him up. He's presumably not been easy to train, this just his third run since he finished a promising fourth in the Brocklesby, but he looks good enough to win off his current mark if he can build on this.
The previous day, the fillies maiden was divided into two races with nine runners. The athletic newcomer Dream Of Love overcame inexperience to take the first division; she's engaged in the Radley Stakes at Newbury on Saturday, interesting that she is being fast-tracked to listed level this autumn.
Another green debutant Sumo Sam rallied gamely to take the second division. It's fair to say the latter was not the paddock pick and stamina-laden pedigree didn't scream two-year-old maiden winner either, but she was backed at long odds, so the win wasn't entirely unexpected. The positive spin would be that she's built a good platform earlier than might have been anticipated.
Whispering Words was sent off at a short price in Sumo Sam's race. She was the pick of all the 18 fillies on show, but her inexperience was too great a hurdle to jump. Whispering Words was sympathetically handled, and seems likely to leave the form well behind in time; this might not have been much of a race for the track, but the potential is definitely there.
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