Four best bets on British Champions Day

Richard Newland and Jamie Insole’s four-year-old makes plenty of appeal each-way at a big price here as you invariably need a strong stayer over this trip here and Witness Stand put up two top performances over 7f before standing virtually no chance last time from stall 15 in the Prix de la Foret.

Prior to his no-show at Longchamp, he had run away with the Lennox Stakes, beating Group One winners Lake Forest and Audience by two and three-quarter lengths and five lengths respectively, and he then finished second to the progressive More Thunder in the Hungerford Stakes.

Ground versatile, he is yet to run at Ascot, but I see no reason why this track will not play to his strengths, and rated 117, he is within 3lb of the favourite here according to the handicapper yet is available at 25-1 with four places on offer with many firms.

With ground concerns and a bad draw in stall 1, I am not sure this is the race for Estrange and I think Kalpana will take a lot of beating here.

A quick turnaround after the Arc would not normally be considered the best prep, but five of her rivals here also ran at Longchamp that weekend and she is comfortably clear on ratings here.

She never really stood much of a chance in the Arc either, as she was stuck wide throughout most of the race, yet was still not much more than a length off finishing third.

Having won this race last year by two lengths, she is likely to get different ground on this occasion, but she has ran several excellent races on faster ground over the summer, including when second in the King George here over course and distance. She should take all the beating.

This looks one of the races of the season, with little to separate the three market leaders, who have all shown they are genuine top-level performers over this trip.

My preference is for Calandagan, who is currently the biggest-priced of the three and has been campaigned with this race in mind all season after finishing second 12 months ago.

He arrives here off the back of two Group One wins, with his most recent victory coming in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes here, where he clocked very fast sectionals at the end of the race to beat Kalpana by a length.

From three runs at Ascot, his second last year (when trading as a short-priced favourite in running) remains the only time he has been beaten at the track, and with Calandagan’s deeper level of Group One form in the book, I am willing to take on the two three-year-olds.

His trainer Francis-Henri Graffard is having a phenomenal year, whilst Cirrus Des Aigles, Almanzor and Sealiway have all won this race for France since the inception of British Champions Day.

Available at 25-1 when I put up my five to follow for the race on Wednesday, there is still some 20-1 and 16-1 about this filly and I still think that underestimates her.

She has ran well over course and distance before, finishing a close second here in May, and whilst she is 7lb higher now, she has improved over the course of the season.

Taking out her fifth at the Shergar Cup when a steadily-run race was never going to suit, she has been bang there in each of her past three runs. Her close-up third behind Jonquil over a mile at Goodwood and her third in a strong Listed fillies’ and mares’ race at Newmarket last time and two of the better pieces of form in this race and she certainly looks capable of winning a race off 99.

She is drawn in stall four, the most successful stall in this race over the past ten years with three winners, and rates a great each-way bet under Jamie Spencer.