BRITISH CHAMPION STAKES
Saturday 21st October, 3:45pm
Horizon Dore @ 11/4
King Of Steel @ 4/1
Bay Bridge @ 8/1
Mostahdaf @ 18/1
Via Sistina @ 20/1
My Prospero @ 12/1
view odds
*prices correct at time of writing.
RACE
When QIPCO British Champions Day was introduced at Ascot in 2011 as an all-singing, all-dancing flat finale, it received priceless early boosts from the presence of the great Frankel and his iconic trainer Sir Henry Cecil, the colt winning first the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and then the Champion Stakes, his retirement race.
In 2023, flat racing’s biggest swansong since will be played out on the same stage as Frankie Dettori is scheduled to take rides in five of the six races on his final day as a British-based jockey. They include King Of Steel in the centrepiece, the £1.3m Champion Stakes. It remains to be seen exactly how big a part in the day is played by Storm Babet.
MARKET
Hands up whose chosen specialist subject is Horizon Dore, France’s latest big three-year-old thing, whose rise up the ranks has brought him to Champion Stakes favouritism? Although the French are having an profitable year with the Classic generation there are doubts about just how good Horizon Dore’s winning form is, and the purple patch has all been on better ground. The Sir Michael Stoute-trained Bay Bridge won in a thrilling finish last year, but comes to Ascot just twenty days after finishing a hard-fought sixth behind Ace Impact in the Arc.
Last year’s narrowly-beaten third, the William Haggas-trained My Prospero will be ok on the going at a track where he’s performed with credit all three times he’s visited – and his highly regarded stablemate Dubai Honour should never be dismissed. Despite well-publicised concerns about the brilliant Mostahdaf on the ground, he did win twice on Sandown soft as a three-year-old and has clearly blossomed since. The romantic result would be a Dettori/King Of Steel victory; that Epsom second will linger long in the memory, but things have been mixed since – some will want to give him another go, others will be less charitable.
CORNELIUS’ QUARTET
This column has been a fan of the filly Tahiyra since before anyone had heard of Paddington, and in receipt of three pounds it would be no shock if she turned over the colt in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (3-05) – many of us can’t help thinking we haven’t seen the best of her yet; Hollie Doyle has a prominent ride on Nashwa in the QEII but an even higher profile one in the Long Distance Cup (1-15) on the apparently rejuvenated Trueshan who goes for a four-timer in the race, against Kyprios, Coltrane and Sweet William, the latter a horse promising to come good bigtime at some point; in the Sprint (1-50) a few shrewdies are notably enthusiastic about the chances of Rohaan; and in the Fillies and Mares (2-25) Time Lock didn’t get her act together all that quickly but is looking the real deal now.
WINNER
The Champion Stakes gives plenty of opportunity to put money where mouths are but it’s hard to keep My Prospero out of the frame.
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