Ascot Saturday tips: Best bets for QIPCO British Champions Day

BARON SAMEDI - 1.25 Ascot (Ben Linfoot)

A two-week turnaround since the Prix du Cadran and good to soft ground that is quicker than ideal are sound reasons to take on Trueshan at short prices in the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup.

Straidivarius had a tougher race in France and has been beaten in this race three times before, so there could be some mileage in looking beyond the big two and BARON SAMEDI stands out for Joseph O’Brien.

He’s improved significantly for stepping up in trip this season, winning the Vintage Crop on his return before landing Grade 2 international success over two miles at Belmont Park.

He didn’t have the pace for 1m4f in the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, but ran a cracker in third in the Irish Leger, staying on powerfully in the final furlong as if the return to 2m will see him in an even better light.

BARON SAMEDI - 1.25 Ascot (Fran Berry)

Comes into the race fresher than a host of rivals and it could be argued he may well have won the Irish St Leger on another day.

I'm really excited to see him back up to two miles again like when he won in Belmont this summer. With first-time cheekpieces on and at around 7/1 he rates a play to kick off a superb day of racing in style.

MINZAAL - 2.00 Ascot (Cornelius Lysaght)

I like Minzaal in the Sprint. While all races on this year's Champions Day programme look to be terrific, this is perhaps the most winnable - the least hard to win - and I found the return to track, at Ascot, after a year off, with a second-place to a course specialist pretty taking. He was a quality two-year-old and remains unexposed.

LAST EMPIRE - 2.00 Ascot (Ed Chamberlin)

This is a race with a history of throwing up a big-price winner and I think the Steve Parkin-owned Last Empire can run a huge race on Saturday.

It's a division without a stand-out champion and I thought the selection ran well behind Space Blues in the Prix de La Foret last time. She's drawn among some of the fancied runners and I just think she'll outrun her huge price.

ROHAAN - 2.00 Ascot (Oli Bell)

He was a massive eyecatcher last time out in Ireland and with a Royal Ascot win to his name this season, he's clearly happy on this track.

I think he can claim a well-deserved breakthrough Group One success on Saturday to round off a remarkable season and complete the fairytale.

ALBAFLORA – 2.35 Ascot (John Ingles)

Triple Oaks winner Snowfall stands out on form in the Fillies & Mares Stakes in a race where none of her rivals have won one Group 1 race let alone three. But she doesn’t make much appeal at a shade of odds on after defeats in France on her last couple of starts. Snowfall arguably had excuses in the Vermeille and didn’t run badly to finish sixth in the Arc a couple of weeks ago but the feeling is that she’s simply not in the same form as she was when so dominant earlier in the year.

The obvious one to oppose her with is ALBAFLORA who was admittedly no match for Snowfall when chasing her home in the Yorkshire Oaks but has presumably been kept fresh since specifically for this race. From a family that gets better with age, and from the in-form stable of Ralph Beckett who has won this contest before with Simple Verse, Albaflora made an impressive reappearance in a Listed race over this course and distance in May when thrashing Tribal Craft, who re-opposes here, by seven lengths and she had a couple more of today’s rivals behind her at York last time.

PALACE PIER - 3.10 Ascot (David Ord)

It’s the mile clash of the season and PALACE PIER can see off the young pretender Baaeed in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.

John Gosden’s colt was surprisingly beaten in this race last year but heads here fresh this time around after an unbeaten campaign. He posted a Timeform Timefigure of 138 when winning the Lockinge and registered routine successes in the Queen Anne and the Prix Jacques Le Marois afterwards.

He’s fine on the ground, proven at the track and sets a very high standard for the admittedly promising young pretender to aim at.

MISHRIFF - 3.50 Ascot (Man On The Spot)

An intriguing renewal of the QIPCO Champion Stakes sees MISHRIFF and Adayar renew acquaintance after the latter came out best in the King George over a mile-and-a-half here in July. Charlie Appleby’s charge subsequently ran a big race in the Arc given the underfoot conditions but the former re-opposes on better terms having subsequently demolished the opposition over today’s trip in the Juddmonte International at York.

Last year’s winner Addeybb would prefer more rain but stablemate Dubai Honour is making rapid strides having won a Group 2 at Longchamp last time and is also preferred to a third Haggas runner in Al Aasy. French Derby runner-up Sealiway should give a good account and makes more appeal than the Ballydoyle colt Bolshoi Ballet while Mac Swiney was no match for the selection at York in August.

RAISE YOU – 4.30 Ascot (Matt Brocklebank)

The fascinating one at a price in the Balmoral Handicap is Joseph O’Brien’s RAISE YOU, who we haven’t seen in public for 81 days.

He certainly has the right kind of profile having run in the same Galway handicap as last year’s Balmoral winner Njord en route to this contest, and he was clearly very unfortunate not to finish a good deal closer than fifth at Ballybrit as he suffered a rough trip towards the inside on turning for home.

Despite that, he gets to race off a 1lb lower handicap mark which looks potentially quite generous given he’s only ever run in two handicaps, the previous one yielding a narrow success over stablemate Fame And Acclaim at the Curragh in April.

He’s fresher than most of these and while Johan, Montatham and Rhoscolyn are all respected at fair prices too, it’s the Irish runner who could still have something up his sleeve from his current BHA mark.

NUGGET – 16:30 Ascot (Andrew Asquith)

Sunray Major will be most popular in the Balmoral as he is well-in under a 6lb penalty for his easy success earlier this month and will likely be plying his trade in pattern races next season.

However, odds of 9/4 in a race of this nature don’t set the pulse racing, and I’d much rather side with a similarly progressive sort in Nugget.

Nugget has some solid form in the book and there was plenty to like about his recent success at Haydock, which came off the back of a four-month break.

He travelled supremely well on that occasion and was only ever just doing enough once hitting the front. Nugget was value for a lot extra on the day, so a 3lb rise is very fair, and this strong-travelling sort is tailormade for the demands of a big-field handicap over a straight mile.

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