Champions Day: essential stats, trends and big-race clues

1 Aidan O’Brien has not had a Champions Day winner for the past four years. Since Magical’s victory in the 2019 Champion Stakes, he’s had 26 successive losers, with Kyprios, Paddington and Jackie Oh all beaten favourites 12 months ago. The form figures of his runners since Magical’s triumph reads 0-560730000349-8345-68565-263694. If you had blindly put £1 on all of O’Brien’s 84 runners, you would be losing about £56. He has 20 entries left in after Monday’s confirmations. 

2 O’Brien has had many wonderful middle-distance horses since the start of the century, but he has landed the QIPCO Champion Stakes just once, at either Newmarket or Ascot, despite fielding 27 runners. His sole winner has been Magical, who won at Evens in 2019. Oratorio, Eagle Mountain, Fame And Glory, So You Think, Ruler Of The World, Highland Reel, Serpentine and Japan have been among his beaten runners. The record of his colts and entire horses in the race reads 04095420960523983747494, but his fillies have fared much better, finishing 2213. Los Angeles, Luxembourg, Content, Continuous and Hans Andersen could represent him this time. 

3 There has not been a Champion Stakes winner with an official rating below 117. Going into the race, the winners have been rated 125, 140, 124, 117, 120, 127, 122, 125, 122, 122, 117, 120 and 121. Eight possible runners on Saturday are rated 116 or lower. 

4 Twelve years have passed since Frankel signed off his perfect career with victory in the Champion Stakes. His brother, Noble Mission, won the same race in 2014, and his son, Cracksman, triumphed in 2017 and 2018. However, Cracksman remains Frankel’s only winner at the meeting as a sire. 

5 Regarding stallions, Galileo predictably leads the way. He has sired the winners of eight races but, in common with Aidan O’Brien has been out of luck for the past four years. He’s had the winner of every race apart from the Sprint. Dark Angel, Dubawi, Pivotal and Sea The Stars have sired four winners. 

6 The race that has had the most overall depth on Champions Day? There are several candidates but surely none can match the Champion Stakes in 2011 when seven of the 12 runners were Group One winners, with four of them rated 125 or higher. French raider Cirrus Des Aigles upstaged them all, winning at the highest level for the first time. He would finish runner-up in the next two renewals before finishing fifth in 2014. 

7 The Arc meeting falls close to Champions Day – it usually follows 13 or 14 days later. However, running at Longchamp has proved no barrier to winning at Ascot. Thirteen runners at the Arc meeting have gone on to win on Champions Day – including Art Power (40/1) and Poptronic (22/1) last year, when admittedly there was an extra week to recover. A total of 22 winners on Champions Day have had their previous outing in France, so look for clues from abroad. 

8 Don’t underestimate French-trained runners in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. Big Rock and Facteur Cheval gave them a 1-2 last year, meaning they’ve now had four winners and two runners-up from just 13 runners. There have been seven British-trained runners from 107 runners. Nine victors of the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes won on their previous start, six in Group One company. Facteur Cheval and Metropolitan are set to fly the flag for France this time. 

9 Charlie Appleby and Sir Michael Stoute enjoyed their first winners two years ago, but Clive Cox, Kevin Ryan, Joseph O’Brien and Charlie Johnston (like his Dad, Mark, before him) are notable trainers yet to strike on the big day. Incidentally, Appleby has no runners on Saturday after pulling off the Fillies’ Mile/Dewhurst double last weekend. 

10 Baeed (rated 135 in 2022); Crystal Ocean (129 in 2018) and Nathaniel (128 in 2011) have been the high-rated runners to have returned home to their respective stables (all in Newmarket) defeated. Baeed was simply below his imperious best; Crystal Ocean had the misfortune to bump into a relentless Cracksman, while Nathaniel was probably involved in the greatest race run at Champions Day in terms of the overall quality on offer. 

11 The winners of the Fillies & Mares Stakes in 2021 and 2022 had finished last in their previous race. Emily Upjohn trailed home in the King George, as did Eshaada in the Yorkshire Oaks. And last year, Poptronic was only ninth of 14 in the Qatar Prix de Royallieu. It might be prudent to keep in mind that Queen Of The Pride trailed home last in the Yorkshire Oaks last time. 

12Seventeen of the horses who have won or been second in the Fillies & Mares have been rated between 111 and 115. Only three of the 19 possibles are in that golden band this time: Content (115), Kalpana (113) and Queen Of The Pride (11). No Fillies & Mares winner has been rated higher than 116, and that’s not going to change. 

13 There have been eight grey winners on Champions Day, although King Of Steel, the 2023 Champion Stakes winner, is officially roan. Shelir has been the biggest price, when springing an 80-1 shock in the Balmoral in 2022. Solow (2015), Librisa Breeze (2017),  Persuasive (2017), Lord Glitters (2017), Roaring Lion (2018) and Art Power (2023) have been the others to prevail. 

14 The nine possible grey runners on Saturday are: (1.20) Alsakib, Belloccio (1.55) Art Power, Shouldvebeenaring (3.15) Charyn, Ice Max (4.35) Popmaster, Silver Legend, Theoryofeverything. 

15 A total of 43 horses have won a form of headgear since the Sprint in 2011. None have won. 

16 Do not be put off by runners who have had busy campaigns in the Sprint. Glen Shiel was having his eleventh run of the year when successful in 2020, while Maarek (tenth run of the year) and Gordon Lord Byron (ninth, having started the year in Australia) had also been in regular action. Last year’s winner, Art Power, was also having his ninth run of the year, having had two trips to Ireland and two runs in France along the way. 

17 Six winners of the six-furlong feature, since 2013, ran in the Sprint Cup at Haydock the previous month. Five of them were beaten – the odd one out being Muhaarar in 2015. 

18 The longest race on Champions Day has provided the day’s most wide-margin winner (Trueshan by 7½ lengths in 2020) but also the tightest finishes. Royal Diamond won by a nose in 2013, as did Kew Gardens in 2019. 

19 There have been 130 runners in the Long Distance Cup, all of them trained in Britain or Ireland. It’s evidently a tough race for three-year-olds to win, with none of the 19 runners from the Classic generation managing better than second. There are a trio of three-year-olds still engaged in the race. 

20 Forgotten Rules had only run once on the Flat before his win in the 2014 Long Distance Cup. Sheikhzayedroad (11/1) and Quest For More (9/1) dominated the 2016 renewal, having been separated by a nose in the Doncaster Cup the previous month. 

21 Two Classic winners, Frankel (2000 Guineas) and Dancing Rain (Oaks), ran at the first Champions Day and both triumphed, in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Fillies & Mares respectively. However, since then, Classic victors have struggled with only Minding, Simple Verse and Kew Gardens being successful from 25 runners. The last-named gained his win a year after his St Leger triumph. It’s the winners of the 2000 Guineas who have found things really tough going. Since Frankel, seven more winners of the race have run on Champions Day, often at short odds, and all have been beaten. Native Trail, this season’s 2000 Guineas, is swerving Ascot and instead heading to the Breeders’ Cup. 

22 John Gosden, who now trains in tandem with son Thady, has had ten winners on Champions Day, more than anyone else. However, he didn’t find it a straightforward day to crack early on, as all 20 of his runners during the first four years were beaten. 

23 Belloccio (123 days), Trawlerman (121), Mr Professor (121) and Lattam (114) are set to return after lay offs but they don’t compare with Rite Of Passage, who overcame 510 days off when winning the Long Distance Cup in 2012. Farhh (154 days off) and 

Cracksman (122 days) have also been winners after lengthy absences. 

24 Four of the past seven winners of the Balmoral had run in the 7f handicap at Ascot a fortnight earlier, although only Aldaary (2021) had won. The other trio had been second, third, and unplaced. Popmaster, Carrytheone, Bopedro (third), Star Of Orion, Mirsky, Qirat (second) and Akkadian Thunder ran in the latest edition. Three winners in the past decade ran in the Cambridgeshire beforehand, with two of them finishing seventh. Look Back Smiling was seventh in the latest running but seems likely to miss the cut. 

25 Aldaary, above, was a trends buster in the Balmoral three years ago. He is the only three-year-old to have won the race from 30 runners, plus is the only to win it carrying a penalty – from 19 who have tried. Six of those defeated when carrying a penalty have been 6-1 or shorter, including 2-1 favourite Sunray Major three years ago. Incidentally, Aldaary is also the only winner with previous winning form at Ascot. Four were having their first run at the track. 

26 Where do you want to be drawn in the Balmoral? Three winners since 2014 have been drawn in stall 4, while only one has been higher than 11. However, plenty of high-drawn horses have figured, with those drawn 21 and 20 finishing first and second in 2019. On balance, though, a low draw is probably best. The first six home last year all jumped from single-figure stalls. 

27 Gosden could be forgiven for thinking he is jinxed in the Balmoral. He has fielded the runner-up on five occasions without winning it: Maverick Wave (2014), GM Hopkins (2015 and 2017), Remarkable (2016) and Lord North (2019), while Magical Morning was third three years ago in a running where the stable’s 2-1 favourite, Sunray Major, disappointed. He and his son, Thady, are giving it a miss this time. 

28 There is a general view that Champions Day is always run on soft or heavy going. It’s a lazy assumption. The word “good” has featured in the going description five times since the meeting was first staged in 2011. 

29 The first four editions of Champions Day also passed by without Frankie Dettori having a winner, but he then chalked up 11 winners (from an overall 56 rides) – making him the most successful jockey at the meeting. Nine of his winners were for Gosden camp, with Ralph Beckett (Kinross) and Roger Varian (King Of Steel) providing the others. However, those following him also had their share of disappointment. He was beaten on 16 favourites. 

30 Sixteen horses have won at Champions Day and then been retired. The list is: Deacon Blues (2011), Frankel (2012), Rite Of Passage (2012), Sapphire (2012), Farhh (2013), Charm Spirit (2014), Noble Mission (2014), Muhaarar (2015), Persuasive (2017), Cracksman (2018), Donjuan Triumphant (2019), Kew Gardens (2019), King Of Change (2019), Star Catcher (2019), Bayside Boy (2022) and Poptronic (2023).