QIPCO British Champions Day: top trends, trivia and statistics

1 Frankie Dettori has said he will be riding in Britain for the final time at the meeting, but few believe that after his decision to prolong his career in America. The first four editions of Champions Day passed without him having a winner, but he’s since chalked up nine victories (from an overall 52 rides), making him the most successful jockey at the meeting. Eight of his winners have been for the Gosden camp, with Ralph Beckett (Kinross) providing the other. However, those following Dettori blind have had their share of disappointment. He’s been beaten on 16 favourites and had you blindly put £1 on all his rides, you’d be losing about £14.

2 Aidan O’Brien is challenging for the Trainers' Championship, despite having had just 21 winners in Britain all year. He will have several fancied runners on Saturday but, surprisingly, has failed to hit the target on Champions Day in the past three years. Since Magical’s win in the 2019 Champion Stakes, he’s had 22 successive losers. The form figures of his runners reads 0-560730000349-8345-68565. John Gosden, who now trains in tandem with son Thady, has edged past him and had nine winners.

3 O’Brien has had many wonderful middle-distance horses since the start of the century but has won the biggest race of the day, the QIPCO Champion Stakes, just once, at either Newmarket or Ascot, despite fielding 26 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 0409542096052398374749, but his fillies have fared much better, finishing 2213.

4 O'Brien suggested Continuous may represent him in the Champion Stakes but has had second thoughts. Two previous St Leger winners have run on the day. Simple Verse won the Fillies & Mares, while Eldar Eldarov failed to make an impact in the Long Distance Cup last year.

5 There has not been a Champion Stakes winner with a rating below 117. Going into the race, the winners have been rated 125, 140, 124, 117, 120, 127, 122, 125, 122, 122, 117 and 120. By contrast, no Fillies & Mares winner has been rated higher than 116.

6 Eleven years have passed since Frankel signed off his perfect career with victory in the QIPCO Champion Stakes. His brother, Noble Mission, won the same race in 2014, and his son, Cracksman, triumphed in 2017 and 2018. Frankel is set to have six runners on Saturday, including Mostahdaf and Nashwa.

7 The late, great Galileo has sired nine winners on Champions Day: Order Of St George, Kew Gardens, Hydrangea, Magical (two wins), Frankel (two wins), Noble Mission and Minding. He has had 99 individual Group One winners, beating the previous record of 85. Could he get to 100 on Saturday? Free Wind and Jackie Oh, both in the Fillies & Mares, are among those who could provide the landmark.

8 What have the past two winners of the Fillies & Mares, Emily Upjohn and Eshaada, got in common? Answer: they both finished last in their previous race. The former trailed home in the King George, while Eshaada failed to beat a rival in the Yorkshire Oaks. There are no qualifiers this time but Stay Alert could run after finishing last in the race 12 months ago.

9 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.

10 The highest-rated runners on course to run on Saturday are Mostahdaf, who has a mark of 128, and the 125-rated Paddington.

11 Baeed (rated 135 in 2022); Crystal Ocean (129 in 2018) and Nathaniel (128 in 2011) - who all ran in the Champion Stakes - have been the highest-rated runners to have returned home to their respective Newmarket stables 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.

12 Don’t underestimate French-trained runners in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. They’ve had three winners and a runner-up from 11 runners. Their challengers this time are set to include Big Rock and Facteur Cheval. There have been seven British-trained runners from 100 runners. Nine victors of the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes won on their previous start, six in Group One company.

13 The Arc meeting falls close to Champions Day – it usually follows 13 days later, although this year the gap is 20 days. However, running at Longchamp is no barrier to winning at Ascot. Eleven runners at the Arc meeting have gone on to win on Champions Day. A total of 19 winners on Champions Day have had their previous outing in France.

14 When Frankel won the Champion Stakes in 2012, the field of six finished in the exact order their ratings suggested they would.

15 Sixteen of the horses who have won or been second in the Fillies & Mares have been rated between 111 and 115. Two of the possibles are in that golden band this time are a pair I fancy: Time Lock (112) and Jackie Oh (114).

16 Shelir became the sixth grey Champions Day winner last year when springing an 80-1 shock in the Balmoral. Solow (2015), Librisa Breeze (2017), Persuasive (2017), Lord Glitters (2017) and Roaring Lion (2018) have been the others to prevail.

17 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.

18 There have been 122 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 20 runners from the Classic generation managing better than second. Eldar Eldarov and Mr Waterville were well fancied last year but filled the last two places. Tower Of London and Maxident are possible three-year-old runners this time.

19 Forgotten Rules had only run once on the Flat before his win in the 2014 Long Distance Cup. By contrast, Gordon Lord Byron was having his 43rd run when landing the Sprint in the same year.

20 Sheikhzayedroad (11/1) and Quest For More (9/1) dominated the 2016 Long Distance Cup, having been separated by a nose in the Doncaster Cup the previous month.

21 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. Kinross was having his seventh run last year, having won at Longchamp only 13 days before.

22 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. Give everything that ran at Haydock a second look.

23 John Gosden, left, 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 two years ago in a running where the stable’s 2-1 favourite, Sunray Major, disappointed.

24 Aldaary was a trends buster in the Balmoral two years ago. He is the only three-year-old to have won the race from 27 runners, plus is the only to win it carrying a penalty – from 18 who have tried. Six of those defeated when carrying a penalty have been 6-1 or shorter, including 2-1 favourite Sunray Major a couple of years ago.

25 Seven of the nine winners of the Balmoral have been rated between 100 and 105, with Musaddas (96 in 2015) and Aldaary (109 in 2015) being the exceptions.

26 David O’Meara has won the Balmoral three times since it was first staged in 2014, from 19 runners. His B Team - Bopedro, Blue For You and Bennetot - are among his possibles this time.

27 Charlie Appleby, the champion trainer, began training for Godolphin ten years ago but didn’t have his first runners at Champions Day until 2021. He has now had eight, but won’t be adding to that number on Saturday.

28 Appleby and Sir Michael Stoute enjoyed their first winners last year, 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.

29 Don't fret if your fancy has been off for a long time. Rite Of Passage overcame 510 days off when winning the Long Distance Cup in 2012. Farhh (154 days off) and Cracksman (122 days) have also won after lengthy absences. Migration could return after 167 days off in the Balmoral

30 First-time headgear? Olympic Glory and Cracksman have been big winners who have sported first-time blinkers. My Prospero wears first-time headgear in the QIPCO Champion Stakes, while Believing will sport first-time cheekpieces in the Sprint, as will Bluestocking and Sweet Memories in the Fillies & Mares.

31 Fifteen 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) and Bayside Boy (2022).

32 None of the past four winners of the Balmoral have had more than seven letters in their name. Of the 32 left in the race, seven horses have a name of seven letters or less.

33 There is a general view that Champions Day is always run on soft or heavy going but the word “good” has featured in the going description five times since the meeting was first staged in 2011. Soft going, or even worse, looks on the cards. Or will that be the case . . .

34 The inside track has been used once, in 2019, because of saturated ground. It's much drier, as this area is not watered during the summer. The races on the straight track, between 6f and a mile, were run on heavy going that year. But on the round track, conditions were "good to soft" to start off with in the Long Distance Cup, then soft in the Fillies & Mares and Champion Stakes as further rain fell on the day. The latter race took place over half a furlong shorter than had been advertised. All winners on the inner track raced prominently, although equally they were all leading fancies.

35 John Gosden said on Wednesday that Nashwa would contest the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. Since 2011, the record of fillies and mares in the race reads: 335741014284058386. Minding won in 2016 and Persuasive scored a year later.

36 Look away now if you fancy Art Power in the Sprint. He's drawn in stall 1 and runners breaking from there have a wretched record. Not one has finished in the first four, despite four going off at single-figure odds. Three have trailed home last, including the well-fancied G Force in 2012. No horse drawn in 15 has made the frame, either. Sandrine will jump from there.

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