Ben Linfoot answers the big questions ahead of Qatar Racing British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday.
15 years on, is Champions Day achieving its brief?
Yes and no, but mainly yes. It has established itself as a fitting finale to the British Flat season and the card has grown in depth. Out has gone the backdrop of the British Champions Series, in has come a valuable two-year-old race, and the promotion of the Long Distance Cup to Group 1 status means five top-level races form the bulk of a sparkling standalone card.
Is it rivalling Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe weekend and the Breeders’ Cup as a global end-of-season destination? Not really, those two events still feel more global and Champions Day doesn’t really get the international challengers bar a sprinkling of quality from France. But it’s a changing landscape. Attritional autumn ground fears have not played out the last two years and perhaps that’s a sign of things to come.
And when you compare this Saturday’s card to the recent action at ParisLongchamp I think we’ve got to a stage where Ascot holds its own. In fact, after a mediocre Arc weekend where there were some very average renewals of the supporting races (that Prix de l’Abbaye was like a glorified Listed race) I’d argue Ascot has better races than Longchamp this year.
Going forward we’ll see what the impact of allowing geldings to run in the Arc has on Champions Day. We shall see if ‘Good’ ground at this time of year becomes the norm. Perhaps the two-year-old race will become a Group 1 to form a six-strong top-level package. What will happen if the sponsors don’t extend their backing beyond 2028?
But, for now, Champions Day looks as healthy as it ever has since Frankel scattered his stardust on the first two renewals of the event back in 2011 and 2012. And this year, like those years, the stars are out in force.
Who is the headline act at Champions Day 2026?
It’s a measure of the strength in depth that there is no obvious poster boy or girl to hang the day on. Each division could argue their case for the headline act. You even have an Andrew Balding v Aidan O’Brien trainers’ title battle going on in the background if you wanted to argue a case for the humans.
I don’t, as it should be all about the horses. There’s Ombudsman (Official Rating 132) and Calandagan (130) in the Qatar Racing Champion Stakes. There’s Constitution River (123) potentially dropping back to a mile in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes to take on Ten Bob Tony (121), Talk Of New York (120) and Rayif (117). There’s Kalpana (125) going for a record third consecutive success in the Qatar Racing British Champions Fillies & Mares. There’s Almeraq (123) bidding to finally stamp some authority on the sprint division. And there’s also a ‘small chance’ Scandinavia (125) is parachuted into the Long Distance Cup.
If you’re talking ratings it’s Ombudsman. If you’re talking intrigue it’s Constitution River. And if you’re talking story it’s Kalpana. What is clear is that this Champions Day has quality and depth in abundance and it’s not relying on one horse to draw the crowds.
How do you see Ombudsman v Calandagan II?
Two high-class horses with little between them at their best and plenty will come down to tactics and tempo on the day.
Both have been campaigned with this day on the agenda, with both coming in off significant enough breaks (two months for Ombudsman, nearly three months for Calandagan) and both come in here on their fifth start of the year, just like last season.
Last season Calandagan beat Ombudsman in this race by over two lengths, but he hasn’t reached that level of form so far this year. Perhaps dropping back to 10 furlongs will help him, as last year’s evidence suggests that a strongly-run race at this trip helps to bring out the very best in him.
Ombudsman probably wouldn’t have come here for his swansong had the ground turned, but with just 5mm of rain forecast at Ascot this week conditions look likely to be in his favour and his career-best win in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in June remains fresh in the memory.
You’d expect a solid pace with pacemakers amongst the entries and while the ground has come right for Ombudsman it looks to have gone against Almaqam and Bay City Roller, as while the latter is perfectly at home on the conditions the combination of better ground and 10 furlongs could leave him vulnerable from a gears perspective.
If there is one that could muscle in on the big two, then, it’s O’Brien’s Gstaad, if he runs here. His pedigree might suggest otherwise, but his running style over a mile hints that he might be worth a go over 10 and, on ground that will suit, his speed could be a vital weapon in certain scenarios.
Hopefully they all turn up, as it looks a cracking renewal.
Can Constitution River make a splash over a mile?
I think he can and I am fully on board with this project after he was supplemented into the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Monday.
There are two key reasons why the QEII appeals to O’Brien and the lads here. Firstly, the premature retirement of Bow Echo makes this division an open one and it looks an easier race than the Champion Stakes. Secondly, a mile Group 1 win on the CR CV will illuminate the Coolmore 2027 stallion brochures.
On his best form he’s the best horse in the race by about half a stone. That’s what the ratings suggest and I don’t think there’s much of a debate to be had there. The big question is can he perform close to that level over a mile on the back of two slightly below-par performances over 1m2f at York and Leopardstown?
It could be that the key to unlocking something near the best of Constitution River is the tempo of a high-class mile race. O’Brien clearly thinks he has the speed to cope with going a mile pace and he’ll be hoping that at the business end of the race his proven stamina will kick in.
You can see why he thinks that. Watching the Dee Stakes and the Coral-Eclipse Constitution River looked quick, his turn of pace allowing him to go from fourth to first in the blink of an eye at Sandown, and running his best 10-furlong horses in this race is not a new tactic for O’Brien.
Constitution River could follow in the hoofprints of Giant’s Causeway, Hawk Wing, Duke Of Marmalade, Rip Van Winkle, Minding and Churchill in tackling the QEII after running over 10 furlongs on their previous start.
Only Minding did so successfully, her class coming to the fore in 2016, but the rest were only narrowly beaten and the prospect of defeat never puts O’Brien off when it comes to this sort of switcheroo.
Indeed, it looks a bit of a free hit and it wouldn’t surprise me if this time it came off.
Scandinavia, Almeraq, Kalpana – bankers or blowouts?
Scandinavia – blowout (Long Distance Cup). This looks an afterthought after the Prix du Cadran and Jan Brueghel’s setback, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s not at his best.
Almeraq – blowout (Champions Sprint). On soft ground he would’ve been a banker, but the conditions could bring him back to the field in a race that often provides a shock.
Kalpana – banker (Fillies & Mares). Below her best at Longchamp for the second year running, she looks a different mare at her beloved Ascot and she won’t have to be at her best to win this.
Will there be another humongous-priced winner this year?
You can see why Champions Day has developed a reputation for throwing up some wacky results. No matter what the ground is, this is the end of the season, some horses will be in better shape than others and it’s very hard to predict just who will thrive.
A common denominator between the biggest-priced winners has been light campaigns. Powerful Glory won the Champions Sprint last year on his third start of the season at 200/1. Cicero’s Gift won last year’s QEII at 100/1 on his sixth start of 2025. Anmaat won the 2024 Champion Stakes at 40/1 on his third start of the calendar year. Bayside Boy won the 2022 QEII on his fifth start of the campaign. Both Donjuan Triumphant (33/1, 2019) and Sands Of Mali (28/1, 2018) won the Champions Sprint on their seventh starts of the year, light campaigns by the standards of sprinters.
This year’s massive-priced light campaigners include Quickthorn (150/1, two runs in 2026) in the Long Distance Cup, Poatan (66/1, three runs) and James’s Delight (100/1, four runs) in the Champions Sprint, Needle Match (150/1, four runs) in the QEII and likely pacemaker Devil’s Advocate (150/1, four runs) in the Champion Stakes.
They look unlikely, but you wouldn’t rule out at least one boilover. If recent history tells us anything, there will be a mix of the wacky and the wonderful. We look all set for the same again this weekend.
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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