British Champions Day at Ascot is the second most prized raceday at the Berkshire course, besides the final day of the Royal meeting.
Four valuable Group 1 races over varying distances will see who will be crowned as the British Champion for the ending flat season. The accumulated prize money is over £3million in the six races.
The feature race concerns many of the Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe runners apart from the winner that day, Waldgeist. Ran over a mile and two furlongs, John Gosden’s Enable will be looking to bounce back from his defeat at Longchamp on October 7th.
Aidan O’Brien is likely to send Japan, Magical and Derby winner Anthony van Dyck down to give a challenge. The second strongest English trained horse looks to be the William Haggas trained Addeybb, who is currently the ante-post favourite to take the £737k prize.
The day begins with the highest rated sprinters in Britain, with Kevin Ryan’s Hello Youmzain looking to continue his good form after taking top prize at Haydock at the beginning of September. The winner of the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville was Martyn Meade’s Advertise, who will be looking to comeback after two months off the track.
The second race on the card is the Fillies and Mares Stakes, where Ballydoyle will be hoping for a third consecutive victory with Magical looking to win it again. This will be the first multiple winner since Crystal Capella in 2008 and 2010. Also the first back-to-back winner since Shebeen in 1974 and 1975. The Irish Oaks winner, Star Catcher will be the main threat to Magical and with Frankie Dettori the likely jockey there is always a chance.
The Long-Distance Cup is all about the Italian Jockey again, Dettori will climb up on Stradivarius once more to attempt gain this crown for the second time. Dee Ex Bee from Mark Johnston’s stable will be up against John Gosden’s stallion but has fallen short three times this season and the likely event again, most would say.
The second most valued race here is the Queen Elizabeth II stakes ran over the straight mile with Saeed bin Suroor’s Benbatl looking for his first Group 1 in Great Britain having won over £4m in prize money across the globe. A Group 1 success in Caulfield(Australia) followed by an extremely impressive second place finish to the Australian superstar of Winx at Moonee Valley is no consolation prize. French raider The Revenant will be hoping for a repeat of his Arc weekend victory, with Pierre-Charles Boudot the likely rider.
Photo: David Jones Flickr through Creative Commons
