Graham Cunningham sets the scene ahead of British Champions Day and is anticipating a really entertaining edition of the Ascot fixture.
Teenage kicks as vintage Champs Day beckons
The bouncing baby birthed by Frankel and Co. in 2011 is now a mercurial teenager with the capacity to delight and frustrate depending on various factors, including the weather.
That first edition of British Champions Day came out kicking and screaming, with Gold Cup hero Fame And Glory and Oaks heroine Dancing Rain setting the stage for Frankel’s QEII romp and a Champion Stakes in which rugged French globetrotter Cirrus Des Aigles thwarted the mighty So You Think with Snow Fairy, Midday and Nathaniel completing a stellar first five.
Frankel’s fabulous farewell defeat of Cirrus and Nathaniel in the 2012 Champion – with an ailing Sir Henry whispering “he’s the best I’ve ever had, the best I’ve ever seen” - remains the burning image of British racing’s global autumn showcase.
And the flame has flickered brightly, if not always annually, thanks to a host of world-class horses across a wide range of distances.
The mighty Muhaarar sealing a fourth consecutive G1 success and showing what a genuinely world-class 1200m performer looks like in the Champions Sprint of 2015.
The magnificent Minding recording her seventh elite success by beating Ribchester in the 2016 QEII, swiftly followed by French ace Almanzor forging clear of Arc heroine Found in the Champion.
The peerless Frankel’s first (and still best) European G1 winner Cracksman running away with the Champion by seven and six in 2017 and 2018 and new mile champ Baaeed dethroning old king Palace Pier in the QEII of 2021.
Stradivarius, Trawlerman, Kyprios and the much missed Trueshan (times three) lighting up the Long Distance Cup and Frankie whipping the 2023 crowd into a Champion Stakes frenzy as King Of Steel wore down Via Sistina on his final ride in Britain.
Bouquet of barbed wire as Richie says rip it up and start again
But it seems you just can’t please everyone.
Resident RP grouser Richard Forristal returned from Paris in unusually chipper mood this week – purring about an Arc weekend “dripping with class from every pore” – but it didn’t take long for the trade paper’s Irish Editor to heave the old harpoon into Champs Day.
The Hyacinth Bouquet vibe was strong as Ascot’s autumn showpiece was dismissed as “the poor relation, trying to be something it’s not” and Richie doubled down by asserting “you’d have to wonder at this stage if they should take another look at the whole situation.”
Now don’t get me wrong, we’ve all come out with some tripe in print over the years and Qipco Champions Day will always be at its very best when the stars align to deliver a potent mix of world-class horses and unusually clement autumnal weather.
But those stars are aligning perfectly for the 2025 renewal.
A rugged veteran bids to cement champion stayer status; an elegant grey shadow is on a champion miler retrieval mission; the best 2000m turf horse on the planet will be a worthy Horse of the Year if he wins a spellbinding feature; and the two tall Englishmen who train the trio could be in for a day of days if all goes to plan.
Big Three lead the charge for Gozza and son
It’s been an up-and-down year for racing’s foremost father and son training combination.
They lost a key rider after a Guineas went begging; gained a new one before winning another; jawed with a trusted old ally after a messy Eclipse; copped a fine after two more ketamine positives; deliberated after a debacle on the Downs; and swallowed some spiky Irish banter after swerving a showdown at Leopardstown.
But the highs – with Trawlerman, Field Of Gold, Ombudsman and Trawlerman at the forefront - have outweighed the lows for John and Thady Gosden.
Trawlerman is as short as 4/7 for the Long Distance Cup, while Field Of Gold looks set to face five fellow G1 winners in a humdinger of a QEII.
But the race of the day – most likely the race of the season – took on a compelling new dimension when Aidan O’Brien broke off from conversation with MV Magnier at Newmarket on Saturday to tell ITV’s Oli Bell that “the Lads want to run Delacroix in the Champion Stakes.”
Del Boys rolling the big dice
Cards on the table, the cynic in me half expected the Coral-Eclipse and Irish Champion winner to miss his Ascot date just as Ombudsman swerved a third clash with the impeccably-bred Delacroix at Leopardstown.
It seemed a fair suspicion in the wake of various comments emphasising his immense value to Coolmore Stud and the untimely death of Wootton Bassett late last month only added to the feeling that here was a colt who might be a little too valuable to take one more chance with.
But I reckoned without the fact that the Lads who deal the aces Aidan plays aren’t going to die wondering in the autumn of their epic racing careers and their decision to go banco turns Saturday’s race into one of the most compelling G1 contests seen in a long while.
Calandagan brings a Timeform rating of 129 from France after his decisive King George win, while Delacroix is on the same mark after surging clear of the admirable Anmaat at Leopardstown and Ombudsman is on 130 after dominating at Royal Ascot and York.
It’s France against Ireland and Britain, the Aga Khan Studs against Coolmore and Godolphin, Barza against Soumy (unless Ryan returns) and Buick, and Graffard against O’Brien and the Gosdens with a bit of added needle after Aidan’s mischievous ‘John likes to whinge’ comments in early September.
Put simply, it’s a spectacular G1 showdown at Britain’s best racecourse with a compelling supporting card including a new £250,000 conditions race for two-year-olds.
And if Ascot avoids the savage track bias that plagued Arc Day – slated as “the most unfair playing surface almost anywhere in the world” by Forristal’s RP colleague Tom Segal – then even the bold Richie and the late Hyacinth would struggle to turn their noses up.
Return to Ascot a big plus for Lazzat and Kalpana
But enough scene setting, who’s going to shine brightest on the Ascot stage?
The Champion is more than just a showdown between the big three but I’m an Ombuds man for the simple reason that his overall body of work – from that commanding Prince of Wales’s win to his runaway defeat of Del in the Juddmonte International – makes him the best horse in the race.
Time will tell whether Graffo lets Sibayan test his powerful, round action against Trawlerman in the Long Distance Cup.
Drying ground could be problematic for the French improver, but Sweet William finished ahead of his more heralded stablemate when the Gosden pair chased Kyprios home in this race last year and the dual Doncaster Cup winner won’t be 8/1 if a few other fancies miss the gig.
Three G1 winners head the market for the Champions Sprint, including last year’s winner Kind Of Blue and Haydock Sprint Cup winner Big Mojo, but Lazzat looks a solid 9/2 chance.
Kyboshed by a strong stand rail bias when punted down to evens at Haydock, Jerome Reynier’s gelding is far better judged on his QEII Jubilee Stakes win at Royal Ascot.
Lazzat pulled well clear of the best Britain and Ireland could offer when getting the better of a duel with Japanese star Satono Reve that day (earning a Timeform rating of 124) and he looks more like an 11/4 chance with the return to Ascot’s stiff 1200m a big plus.
I doubt there will be a stampede to take 6/4 as Field Of Gold returns against a raft of fellow G1 winners in the QEII but that tremendous St James’s Palace success remains too fresh in the memory to jump ship.
And then we come to a Fillies & Mares showdown featuring one key fancy who swerved the Arc and another who took her chance only to endure a tough trip.
Poor old Estrange, getting drawn in the Longchamp car park last week then being withdrawn after scoping dirty just a few hours later.
David O’Meara’s filly will probably head the market if she recovers well enough to head to Ascot - and the progressive Waardah is on the up - but KALPANA is surely the most likely springer.
Andrew Balding’s filly won this handsomely last year and produced a career best when splitting Calandagan and Rebel’s Romance in the King George. Her Arc seventh was honourable considering she covered a lot of ground with no cover out wide and the 6/1 will look big if she goes on the quick backup.
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