Andrew Asquith has two bets for British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday in his latest ante-post column.
Weekend View: Saturday October 17
0.5pts e.w Docklands in Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at 33/1 (Unibet, Betfair, Sky Bet, Paddy Power 1/5 1,2,3)
2pts e.w Scoville in the Balmoral Handicap at 8/1 (General 1/4 1,2,3,4)
Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook Betfair Sportsbook
We’ve hit the bar the last couple of weeks with Prince of India finishing second in the Bengough Stakes and Sea Lantern narrowly beaten in the Cesarewitch last weekend.
The latter was particularly hard to take, especially as it was Alphonse le Grande who denied Manxman for this column – by an even lesser margin – in the same race a couple of years ago.
But, the show must go on, and British Champions Day at Ascot this Saturday awards us with some top-class racing.
Prince of India looks like taking his chance in the Qatar Racing British Champions Sprint Stakes, and he looks fairly priced at around 20/1. Almeraq sets a pretty healthy standard in that race though following his romp in the Sprint Cup at Haydock last time and, even though the ground probably won’t be as testing as then, he looks the likely winner to me.
Both Constitution River and Talk of New York were supplemented for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and that definitely adds depth an intrigue, especially with the former, who is set to have his first run at a mile.
Talk of New York looked very good in the Joel Stakes at Newmarket last time and it’s surely only a matter of time before he makes the breakthrough at the top level, but hopefully that will be next season, as I think DOCKLANDS has very good claims of outrunning big odds.
His form figures over this course and distance read 113222147 with his biggest day coming when winning the Queen Anne Stakes by a nose from Rosallion last season. He went on to finish fourth in this race later in the year to shock 100/1 winner Cicero’s Gift and he proved at least as good as ever when hitting the frame in the Hong Kong Mile on his final start of 2025.
Docklands was all the rage in the betting ahead of his reappearance at Doncaster in March and stamped his class on the field to make a smooth winning return back down into Listed company.
The decision to take him back out to Sha Tin for the Group 1 Champions Mile (where he ran another cracker to finish third) just 29 days later may have had an effect on his below-par performance in this year’s Queen Anne in my opinion, quite a lot of travelling in a relatively short space of time to then come back and be in optimum condition.
Excuses can be made for his last two runs on the round course here and at Goodwood, a track which doesn’t play to the strengths of his run style, and he arrives back at his favoured straight mile course a fresh horse. The ground will be no issue for him and I can see him running a big race at attractive odds with Champion Jockey Billy Loughnane taking over for the first time.
My idea of the best bet on the card at Ascot comes in the closing Balmoral Handicap and it comes in the shape of SCOVILLE, who finally came good this season with an impressive success at Doncaster last month.
He looked like going right to the top when winning his first two starts last season, producing a smart performance when drumming his rivals by 14 lengths at Newmarket, but he didn’t progress as expected in pattern company on his next two starts.
There was promise to glean following a breathing operation after his reappearance, however, shaping much better than the bare result on his handicap debut in the Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot, given a forceful ride and third home in his group, but more pertinently doing easily the best of those who forced the pace.
Scoville didn’t fare well with the draw in the Golden Mile at Glorious Goodwood next time, forced to work harder than would have been ideal early to get a position, which compromised his finishing effort.
The drop to seven furlongs was against him at Newbury two starts ago, but a more patient ride back on a straight mile worked the oracle at Doncaster last time, and he looked a seriously well handicapped horse. He made eye-catching headway on the bridle before having to switch round rivals for a run and he found plenty without his jockey having to get serious with him.
At the moment, there is no jockey attached to his name, but there also isn’t for William Haggas’ other entry and last year’s winner Crown of Oaks but, given the yard have won two of the last five renewals, you would imagine both are intended runners.
This looks the perfect race for him and a subsequent 4lb rise for his latest win greatly underestimates him in my opinion.
Preview posted at 15:00 BST on 13/10/2026
British Champions Day 2026
- David Ord on why William Haggas is backing the underdog
- Ben Linfoot on the big questions heading into Ascot
- Andrew Asquith tackles Champions Day in Weekend View
- Matt Brocklebank reveals his Champions Day shortlist
- William Haggas on his British Champions Day team
- Andrew Balding on his British Champions Day team
- Richard Brown on Wathnan's Ascot team
- Nemone Routh on the Aga Khan Stud's Ascot team
- Tom Fanshawe on Kind Of Blue's Champion Sprint claims
- Trainers' title: Andrew Balding v Aidan O'Brien
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