A Day At The Races: Qipco British Champions Day

It was an excellent day out for British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday. There were some exciting finishes, a good crowd, and some shock results.

The winning SPs for the six races were: 20/1, 7/1, 16/1, 11/2, 11/4, and 12/1. The fact that there were no winning favourites could be interpreted in two ways, depending on your view about Champions Day taking place in mid-October.

Either: it shows how competitive the racing is, which it should be given the prize money on offer

Or: the soft ground (not unexpected in autumn) deters the fast ground horses from turning up at all and favours those who handle the conditions the best on the day but who are not necessarily the ‘best’ horse.

The presence of Frankel in previous years did set a very high standard but, in general, Saturday did not feel like great champions were being crowned.

Hot Snap and Talent in the parade ring

But that is not to deny the fact that there was some great entertainment. The finish to the Qipco Champion Stakes was a suitably close one for Champions Day – Farhh (11/4) holding on by a nose from Cirrus Des Aigles with Derby winner Ruler Of The World half a length back in third.

Farhh returns victorious

Similarly, the opening race, the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup, had another tight finished with Royal Diamond (20/1) coming back to pip Harris Tweed by a nose on the line. The winner was both ridden and trained by Johnny Murtagh, who was had a successful time at Ascot this year.

Olympic Glory (11/2) was very impressive against his opposition in the British Champions Mile under Richard Hughes, with 2/1 favourite Dawn Approach back in fourth place.

 

Olympic Glory streaks clear

 

Away from the track, the exhibition of objects and memorabilia from Sir Henry Cecil’s life and racing career was very popular with race goers as was the collection of sporting trophies in the grandstand.
 

Frankel's trophies

At the end of a long day’s betting, cheering, and going up and down escalators in the grandstand, the delicious steak burger from the Cock n Bull Rotisserie was a much needed restorative before the journey home.

Telegraph Fantasy Racing Update

The position has not improved for Turf Accounts’ fantasy stables after the JLT Lockinge Stakes and Betfred Temple Stakes.

One stable now sits in around 5,000th place and the other is languishing nearer 13,500th.

Richard Fahey earned one stable 320 points for Glen’s Diamond’s victory in the Yorkshire Cup and 25/1.

Selecting Farhh as the winner of the Lockinge only earned us 66 points and it would have been better to have had Sovereign Debt at 80/1 in second.

We also managed to find Kingsgate Native at 14/1 in the Betfred Temple Stakes but our stables do not seem to be making progress up the leaderboard.

We have a some hopes in next week’s Epsom Derby meeting but some of the prices are likely to be too short to earn us lots of points.

Racing Preview: JLT Lockinge Stakes

Just like several big races so far this season, the betting for the Group 1 JLT Lockinge Stakes at Newbury this afternoon centres around an Aidan O’Brien runner. On this occasion it is Declaration Of War.

Declaration Of War is as short as 13/8 in some places for the straight mile contest but is along way behind some of his rivals on official ratings. But it would be no surprise if Aidan O’Brien’s colt continued to show improvement and make a mockery of his current rating of 112.

The race is set up as a contest between the older horses who have the form in the book and the potential of the four-year-olds.

Godolphin’s Farhh (5-year-old) chased home Frankel on two occasions last season, never getting closer than six lengths. But Farhh has been beset by injuries in his career and most recently suffered an ankle injury over the winter. This will be his first run since that surgery.

The seven-year-old Cityscape is rated 124 and also finished runner up to a good horse in Excelebration twice last season.

Two interesting runners are Sir Henry Cecil’s Beauty Parlour and John Gosden’s Fencing. Beauty Parlour finished well down the field in the Sun Chariot Stakes late last season but had won the French Guineas for her pervious trainer earlier in the season. Again, backing her for the Lockinge is to take a view as to how much she has improved for Sir Henry’s work over the winter.