Champions Day: Trainer Quotes | Views from connections ahead of all the big races at Ascot
We've got the latest trainer quotes ahead of QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot, including for the Champions Sprint and the QEII.
QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup preview (1.25 Ascot)
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John Gosden reports Stradivarius to be in tip-top shape as the £1million-winning stayer bids to complete a lucrative season on a high in the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot on Saturday.
The four-year-old scooped the seven-figure Weatherbys Hamilton-backed bonus with victories in the Yorkshire Cup, Gold Cup, Goodwood Cup and Lonsdale Cup.
Stradivarius was not quite his brilliant best when taking the latter race at York in August, but has had a refreshing break and has been pleasing his trainer at home.
"He is in tremendous form and I'm very happy with him," said Gosden.
"He has put good condition back on. He comes in great order and we are thrilled with him.
"I think his win in the Gold Cup was the most satisfying moment of my year.
"He's a diminutive horse and the fact he gave everything, pulled a shoe off and rammed it into his foot in the last furlong and still won was a pretty remarkable achievement.
"He's all heart."
However, the testing ground is a worry for his rider, Frankie Dettori.
"He has been a magnificent horse this year. He is a great stayer, he's drawn well (stall one), and if he handles the conditions, then he will be there or thereabouts," Dettori said in his Ladbrokes blog.
"Obviously the ground is a concern for us as his best ground is good to firm. However, he came third on similar ground last year and coped with it."
Thomas Hobson won the Doncaster Cup in good style and his trainer Willie Mullins is hoping a similar performance can see the eight-year-old earn a decent slice of the cash on offer.
"He was impressive at Doncaster last time and is in good order," said Mullins.
"It's hard to expect he will win, but if he could run well and get a good share of the prize-money, then we'd be very happy."
Aidan O'Brien sends a team of three-year-olds to take on the older horses. His trio is headed by Flag Of Honour. The Irish St Leger hero was supplemented at Monday's confirmation stage.
"He's in good form and seems to have come out of the Irish Leger well. We've been happy with him since," said O'Brien.
"He got the Leger trip well and we thought there was a chance that he might even stay further."
Naas Group Three scorer Cypress Creek and the lightly-raced Sir Erec, winner of a Listed contest at Limerick, give the Ballydoyle handler an interesting hand.
QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes preview (2.00 Ascot)
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Dean Ivory was pleased to see plenty of rain fall at Ascot earlier this week as he primes Librisa Breeze to defend his crown in the Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes on Saturday.
The grey has not had his conditions all year - but with the ground in his favour, Ivory is expecting the real Librisa Breeze to line up, at a track where he usually performs to his best.
"The rain is going to help us, we hope," said the Radlett trainer.
"He was a little bit disappointing last time. We're always hopeful, but it's a Group One so we're mindful of that and they are never easy.
"We backed up his last run quite quickly after he came back from France and the race at Newbury wasn't run to suit. It's a race we have to forget and put a line through.
"He always runs well at Ascot, so we're just hoping it does again."
The Tin Man lifted this prize in 2016 and bids to regain it on the back of victory in the 32Red Sprint Cup at Haydock, where trainer James Fanshawe had viewed concerns over the heavy ground.
"He'd been placed in the race in the two previous races and both times it was really testing ground and we didn't feel he produced his best," said Fanshawe.
"So when we got to Haydock we thought 'here we go again - soft ground, we've got no chance', but I always had at the back of my mind he does come from a soft-ground pedigree.
"It's easy enough to say now he won the race that he liked the soft ground, but he did. It gives you a bit of encouragement. He's shown he's effective on all ground."
Harry Angel has yet to win in five visits to Ascot, but he was fourth 12 months ago and his trainer Clive Cox reports his star sprinter to be in rude health.
"I'm very pleased with Harry Angel. He is pleasing with his home work and well-being. He is still a fresh horse, to be fair," said Cox.
"Although he does cope with it (soft ground), I would prefer it drier rather than wetter.
"As I've said before, I don't think the fact he has won at Ascot is as much as a negative as it has been made out to be, but it would be nice to prove it wrong.
"He is in great form and I would be pleased if he won, more for the horse than anything else."
Tasleet, second last year, loves plenty of ease in the ground but disappointed his trainer William Haggas in The Tin Man's race at Haydock.
"I thought he'd run a bit better than that, but he's come out of it very well and he's bouncing. We are ready to go again," said Haggas.
"He did his best bit of work this year the week before last."
Whether Limato takes his chance depends on how much the ground dries out after a deluge of rain.
Owner Paul Jacobs and trainer Henry Candy will walk the track on the morning of the race before making their decision.
The rejuvenated gelding seems up for the test after taking his winning spree to three with victory in the Challenge Stakes at Newmarket last week.
"Henry and I reckon it's going to be a 50-50 call," said Jacobs.
"The horse still seems OK. He's come out of last Friday's race well and seems to be dancing. He's so fresh that he had to have a couple of canters on Wednesday.
"There's nothing for him until next midsummer so we thought we may as well declare.
"Henry walked the course on Wednesday. It is soft on the straight course, no doubt.
"We'll go on Saturday morning, walk the track again and decide if we go ahead. It's a very close call and in the lap of the weather gods.
"If we all stay in one piece we're going to give him a later campaign next year and not start him off in May.
"This year, his first two races didn't work out. We ran him at the wrong time, over the wrong distance."
Son Of Rest should enjoy the ground, according to his trainer Fozzy Stack.
The four-year-old dead-heated for first place in the Ayr Gold Cup and was second in the Group One Flying Five Stakes.
"Obviously it's quite a good race, we probably want one or two of them to under-perform," said the County Tipperary handler.
"He's in good order and we've been happy with him since Ayr, so hopefully he'll give a good account of himself and he'll like the ground."
QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes (2.40 Ascot)
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Gosden has another hot favourite on the card in Lah Ti Dar, who goes for the Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes.
The older sister of two-year-old sensation Too Darn Hot may have lost her 100 per cent record in the St Leger, but nevertheless ran a tremendous race to finish second despite her obvious lack of experience.
"She got the idea of what she was supposed to be doing in the last furlong at Doncaster," said Gosden.
"She is still a very a big, immature filly. Frankie said he set her to sleep and he couldn't wake her up again, but I love the way she finished."
One of her main rivals is Godolphin's Kitesurf, who finished with a flourish to win the Prix Vermeille at ParisLongchamp last month.
"She has been in great form since her win in the Vermeille," trainer Andre Fabre told www.godolphin.com.
"For a brief moment we were tempted to go the Arc route, but the interval between the Vermeille and Ascot works well.
"I think she'll handle the conditions, but this will probably be heavier (on the round course) than she has previously encountered, so it's not a certainty either."
O'Brien runs six of the 11, but last year's winner Hydrangea and Arc 10th Magical look the pick.
"Magical is in good form and we were very happy with her at Longchamp," said O'Brien.
"She just had a bad draw in the Arc, but came out of it well and we're looking forward to seeing her running again over a mile and a half.
"Hydrangea's had a bit of a break and she seems to be in good form. It's a while since she ran, but she seems to be in good form.
"She probably had a better preparation last year when she had a busier time than she did this year. She hasn't run since the King George this year."
Queen Elizabeth II Stakes preview (3.15 Ascot)
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Big-race rider Oisin Murphy does not envisage the drop in trip proving a problem for Roaring Lion in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Qipco British Champions Day.
The John Gosden-trained colt has made a real niche for himself over 10 furlongs this season, after being beaten in the 2000 Guineas over a mile and the Derby over a mile and a half.
Owned by Qatar Racing, whose Sheikh Fahad Al Thani backs this meeting with his brothers, the Kitten's Joy colt has won three Group Ones - the Eclipse, Juddmonte International and Irish Champion Stakes - as well as the Dante at York for good measure.
"He's an exceptional horse and every time I ride him I need to keep that in mind," said Murphy, who has had enjoyed a spectacular season himself.
"Horses like him are so hard to get your hands on and he will have no trouble coming back in trip.
"If you roll back the clock to the 2000 Guineas, clearly he's proven now that he's a much better horse than (the winner) Saxon Warrior. If you could run the Guineas again, at the stage he is now, I think he would win. He's a different horse now to what he was in May.
"At the races he's brilliant and very relaxed about the whole thing, but going to post you need to switch him on by giving him a proper canter, otherwise he's not focused and he would think he's just there for a day out."
Gosden said: "He has improved so dramatically this year. It was a cold, miserable winter and we had no spring. He just wasn't with us. He actually ran a nice race in the Guineas and exploded in the Dante.
"He showed a lot of guts in the Eclipse and was hugely impressive in the Juddmonte. He had an impossible task at Leopardstown. I don't know how he quickened like he did to get there and win.
"He was a complete playboy and during the winter he spent a lot of time on his hind legs. He was a real lad and was the type if you went into town, you would have to make sure he didn't start a fight! He was full of it.
"He came good with racing. He has got discipline with racing and that is impressive."
Owner John Dance is hopeful his star filly Laurens can end her season in style in the QEII.
"A little part of me still thinks she doesn't quite get the credit she deserves, given what she's achieved, and I suppose people have been looking for the real soft-ground horses like Addeybb and Lord Glitters.
"Obviously Roaring Lion is running, too, as opposed to in the Champion Stakes.
"You pick up on comments on social media and people seem to think she's had a hard year and this may be one run too many, it's quite a quick turnaround after the Sun Chariot and even those that do respect her are not sure it will be her day.
"Arguably the Sun Chariot was her best performance, though. She had that two-month break mid-season and that was because we wanted her running that weekend, albeit we were thinking about the Prix de l'Opera or the Arc at the time."
After the aborted mile-and-a-half mission at York, Laurens did the almost unthinkable and beat Alpha Centauri in Ireland, but an injury to the latter meant attention was understandably cast elsewhere.
"She proved in the Matron that she's as good over a mile as a mile and a quarter and we wanted to back that up in the Sun Chariot, and thankfully she did," said Dance.
"I don't think it would have changed anything had we known Roaring Lion was going to be in the QEII before we supplemented, I'm no more worried about him than any other horse because it doesn't change the view that the QEII is the right race for us.
"Had the ground been quicker he'd have been in the Champion Stakes, she was already in that yet we had to supplement for the QEII. He's a fantastic horse, there's no doubt about that, but there is an argument that he has needed every last yard of a mile and a quarter to show his best.
"I do get the impression from John Gosden and Oisin Murphy that they believe Roaring Lion is a better horse at this stage of the season than when he ran in the Guineas, so that is a fair enough reason not to write him off over a mile, and the ground brings his stamina into play.
"You could argue their logic, for sure."
Dance retains jockey PJ McDonald for all his horses, but an injury in early September meant Danny Tudhope replaced him in the Matron and Sun Chariot and the owner is glad he has been spared a difficult call.
"I feel like we were given a get-out-of-jail-free card, really, because Danny is banned and PJ is back!" he said.
"With Danny banned there was no decision to make, but it would be hard to jock off someone who has just won you two Group Ones. It would have been hard, but PJ is our man.
"He had a winner Thursday night, he had rides at Newcastle on Wednesday night and he said to me, 'You need to be match fit and on your game to ride winners at Wolverhampton', so it's all systems go."
Laurens was bought for £220,000, a lot of money in any language, but not particularly when you are taking on sheikhs, royalty and private investment funds.
Dance went on: "People say how lucky I am to get a horse like Laurens so early in ownership. I tell them it's not just so early - to get one like this ever. By our standards she was very expensive, she cost the sort of money we thought we'd be selling horses for, not buying.
"You only have to look at the money spent recently at Newmarket to realise what owners like myself are up against in this game. We're small owners without deep pockets relative to the big boys. To get one like her is just amazing.
"I think a combination of the little guys taking on the big boys, the way she runs - the phrase 'wearing her heart on her sleeve' has been well used - I think it all adds to her appeal.
"She never wins easily, it's not good for the heart and she's turning me grey, but I think she just saves a little for herself and that might be key this weekend."
Before Roaring Lion's switch from the Champion Stakes, Recoletos had been favourite for Carlos Laffon-Parias, who is based in France. Fourth in the Champion last year, he has improved for dropping to a mile this term.
"We rode him to win that race last year, and it cost us the second place. I think if we'd have waited a little bit more, he should have been second, but I think it was a great performance," said Laffon-Parias.
"The issue was that a mile and a quarter was a little bit too long for him, but only at this level.
"He was second, beaten by a champion (Alpha Centauri) in the Jacques le Marois. The horse is very well at the moment and I am quite confident."
It seems a long time since William Haggas' Addeybb seemingly had the world at his feet when winning the Lincoln and a Group Two at the start of the season, but he has been inactive since finding the ground too fast in the Lockinge.
"I wanted to run him in the Irish Champion; I wanted to run him in Paris on Arc weekend, but it just didn't happen because it was too fast for him," said Haggas.
"He didn't travel to Ireland, but did go to France. I don't think it will have done him much harm. His weight is really good and he's ready to run. His form is OK and he's a big, fine horse."
Century Dream has made giant strides this year, being beaten less than a length in the Queen Anne and finishing fourth in the Arlington Million last time out.
"He is doing super well, we are really very pleased with him. We've given him a nice break since he ran so well in the Arlington Million in America because we've had the QEII as his main end-of-season target," said trainer Simon Crisford.
"He ran a huge race in the Queen Anne, when the ground was a little bit quick for him, but he still finished strongly.
"We are hopeful of a good run, but you can never go into a race like that over-confident. There's some fantastic horses in there rated much higher, but we are happy to give it a go.
"He likes to get his toe in and it's a case of the softer the better for him."
QIPCO Champion Stakes preview (3.50 Ascot)
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Owner Anthony Oppenheimer has described Cracksman's season as "difficult" as the Frankel colt bids to emulate his sire with a second win on Qipco British Champions Day.
Last year's startling success in the Champion Stakes earned him the accolade of the third best horse in the world, but he has struggled to reach the same heights this season.
It all started well in the Prix Ganay in France, but the John Gosden-trained Frankel colt only scrambled home in the Coronation Cup and raced lazily in the Prince of Wales's Stakes, when beaten by Poet's Word.
So lazily, in fact, he will wear blinkers for the first time on what will be his final race before departing for stud duties.
"It would be nice if he can win it again, it's just a relief to be able to run him, it's been a difficult year," said Oppenheimer.
"This year I really wanted to see him in the King George, but he couldn't run in it because it was too fast and a few years earlier Golden Horn couldn't run it because it was too soft, which is extraordinary in mid-summer."
As well as the King George, Cracksman also missed the Juddmonte International, Irish Champion Stakes and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe due to the fast ground.
"It was the right decision not to run him in the Arc. Most of the jockeys described it as very fast ground and one or two horses broke down," said Oppenheimer.
"I would have liked to have seen him take on Roaring Lion on Saturday, but I suppose on soft ground it wouldn't have been fair on him as he doesn't like it, but we've still got some opposition - Crystal Ocean is very smart.
"He'd worked in blinkers a few times and they seemed to really work, but then he did a gallop the other day without them and went really well. I have a feeling it's just to make sure he concentrates.
"John doesn't want to take any risks. They may help him, but I suspect he'd be the same horse with or without them.
"It would be a lovely way to sign off - one keeps horses to race, not to stare at every day!
"He's so well bred it's going to be exciting breeding from him. He's a lovely-looking horse and while he doesn't have the sheer beauty of Golden Horn, he is a very good looker."
Gosden has put the blinkers on in the belief that Crackman's mind was not fully on the job at Royal Ascot.
"It is hard to criticise a horse that has won two Group One races this year and been second in a Prince of Wales's at Royal Ascot run in a very good time on fast ground and he wasn't quite mentally with us that day, that's for sure," he said.
"I thought he ran a very good race considering he wasn't quite there. He got very interested in the girls (fillies) walking back from the Windsor Forest! He has worked well since.
"He exploded in the Ganay and I'm not sure he has been the same horse since rolling down that hill (at ParisLongchamp), but it's a criticism of the track as two or three weeks later the jockeys refused to ride."
Gosden also runs Monarchs Glen, a winner at Royal Ascot albeit at a lower level in the Wolferton Stakes. He has not been seen since.
"It was a great run last time. We had a couple of spots for him, but decided than rather than go for the Prix Dollar at Longchamp, where we were concerned about the ground, or the Darley Stakes at Newmarket, where the ground was too quick, we would save him for Ascot," said Gosden.
The 100/1 outsider Maverick Wave is the third member of the Clarehaven team.
Sir Michael Stoute's Crystal Ocean is Cracksman's biggest danger, according to the bookmakers, and showed when second to stablemate Poet's Word in the King George that he belongs at this level.
Stoute said: "It would have been better for the owner if he'd won the King George, but it was a very brave effort and we've really been pleased with the way he has progressed.
"He will be dropping back in distance, but he is effective at 10 furlongs."
Aidan O'Brien's Capri missed a large part of the season through injury, but showed he retained most of his ability with a fine run to be fifth in the Arc.
He does, though, need to prove he has the pace for 10 furlongs as a St Leger winner.
O'Brien said: "He's in good form and seems to have come out of the Arc well. We've been happy with him since.
"We were very happy with his run at Longchamp."
Balmoral Handicap (4.30 Ascot)
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Dean Ivory is hoping Flaming Spear's run at Ascot just two weeks ago, when he was fifth to Raising Sand, will not have left its mark when the six-year-old bids to defy top weight in the Balmoral Handicap.
"It's not long ago we last ran him, when he didn't get the clearest of runs," said Ivory.
"He seemed to handle the soft ground the other day when he ran there. You would not know how much that race took out of him until he runs on Saturday.
"He's been lightly-raced and we've looked after him. I'd rather have it on the softer side than anything else."
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