QIPCO British Champions Day: Star names still in the frame

The score between the pair stands at one-one after John and Thady Gosden’s charge gained revenge for his Coral-Eclipse defeat to the Ballydoyle star by beating him in the Juddmonte International at York.

Since then Delacroix has run out a brilliant winner of the Kingdom Of Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes.

Anmaat is set to try to defend the crown he snared 12 months ago but is set to face a star-studded cast as Calandagan, Goliath and Economics are all still in the frame.

Field Of Gold is still on course to re-appear in the £1.1m Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (sponsored by QIPCO) and heads 27 horses going forward.

The Juddmonte-owned colt was hugely impressive when winning the Irish 2,000 Guineas and the St. James’s Palace Stakes – he will bid to add a third top flight victory to his CV having been given a break following a below-par effort in the Sussex Stakes.

Docklands delivered the performance of his career when taking the Queen Anne Stakes in the opening race at Royal Ascot and will look to continue his impressive Ascot record with three wins and three seconds in seven starts.

Rosallion has finished runner-up in three Group One races over a mile this term including the aforementioned Queen Anne Stakes, whilst Facteur Cheval has finished second in this race for the last two years for French trainer Jerome Reynier. Delacroix retains the option of dropping back in trip to a mile having raced exclusively over further this season.

The £500,000 QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes sees 30 go forward as the most open division in British racing looks to crown a champion.

Last year’s winner Kind Of Blue is one of three potential runners for Wathnan Racing who will also look to run Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes hero Lazzat and Flora Of Bermuda, third in this contest last year and placed in multiple top-level races this term.

Big Mojo retains an entry in this race having won the Sprint Cup at Haydock last time out as well as the Commonwealth Cup Trial over course and distance. No Half Measures completes the set of British Group 1 winners remaining in the contest after her shock success in the July Cup at Newmarket.

There are plenty of intriguing names still left in the £500,000 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes with more likely to be revealed after this weekend’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

24 fillies and mares remain in at this stage, including last year’s winner Kalpana although she is set to run at Longchamp alongside Estrange and Minnie Hauk later in the week. Aidan O’Brien has seven other potential entries in the race including Ribblesdale Stakes winner Garden Of Eden and Bedtime Story, third in the Prix Vermeille earlier in the month. Owen Burrows’ Waardah has improved with every start this season, most recently beating fellow Fillies & Mares Stakes entry Danielle in the Group 2 Lillie Langtry Stakes at Goodwood.

Trawlerman has proved better than ever this year and will look to assert his dominance over the staying division in the £500,000 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup, which sees 16 go forward.

John & Thady Gosden’s Godolphin-owned seven-year-old broke the track record when winning the Gold Cup at the Royal Meeting and will look to win this race for the second time having done so in 2023.

The Classic generation could be represented by Scandinavia, who has won the Goodwood Cup and St Leger this term. Aidan O’Brien has also confirmed Gold Cup runner-up Illinois and Jan Brueghel, most recently fourth in the King George.

Francis Graffard, meanwhile, has left Sibayan in the race – the four-year-old would be stepping up to two miles for the first time but proved his class when winning the Group One Preis von Europa on Sunday.

The QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup race will be run as a Group One for the first time this year.

For the first time this year the £250,000 QIPCO British Champions Day Two-Year Old Conditions Stakes will open the card, a six-furlong race for juveniles run without penalties.

Entries for that race will be made at the usual six-day stage on Monday 13th October.

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