Timeform Champion Stakes report | Calandagan shows top-class form

The 2025 Champion Stakes thankfully saw normality restored on a number of counts, firstly in being run on the Flat course after 2 years of having to be moved to the inner hurdles course due to the state of the ground, resulting in messy contests; secondly in the way the race was run after pacemakers had made a mess of several Group 1s this season, the presence of one apiece from the camps of a couple of the leading contenders ensuring the race was fair to all; thirdly, and most importantly, in seeing the race living up to its billing in crowning a champion on a day when a couple of the races had somehow managed to further cloud already confusing pictures, a prolonged spell of dry weather resulting in a stacked field fitting of the race title, just the third time in a decade that a European race had been contested by a trio of horses boasting a Timeform rating of 129 or higher, following on from the 2016 renewal - the last time the ground had been good to firm for this meeting - and the 2023 Arc, like those victory going the way of the French-trained protagonist, Calandagan supplanting his year-younger stablemate Daryz to the crown of champion middle-distance horse with a thoroughly professional display.