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Qipco British Champions Day: top trends, trivia and titbits

Last Updated: Tue 5 Dec 2023

Want to know a bit more about Britain's richest raceday? Let Andy Stephens be your guide

1.Baaeed will become only the second horse, after Frankel, to be rated higher than 130 to run on Champions Day. He has an official rating of 135, the same that Frankel boasted before he won the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in 2011. Twelve months later, Frankel was rated 140 before and after his Champion Stakes success.

2. Kyprios has carried all before him in the staying division this year but will be a notable absentee in the Long Distance Cup. Instead, it will be his older sister, Search For A Song, runner-up in 2020, who will carry the family flag. On the subject of siblings, Wordsworth is in line to try and emulate his brother, Kew Gardens, who won the Long Distance Cup in 2019, while Mimikyu will seek to win the Fillies & Mares six years after her sister, Journey, won the race for the same connections. And like Journey, Mimikyu will wear a hood.

3. There have been five grey winners on the day: Solow (2015), Librisa Breeze (2017), Persuasive (2017), Lord Glitters (2017) and Roaring Lion (2018). Art Power (Sprint) will be fancied by many to add to their haul.

4. Eighteen three-year-olds have run in the Long Distance Cup and none have won – with those defeated including household names Big Orange (fifth in 2014) and Stradivarius (third in 2017). This year, the Classic generation have two short-priced possibles in Waterville and Eldar Eldarov. The latter will become only the second St Leger winner to run at Champions Day in the same year. The other was Simple Verse, winner of the Fillies & Mares in 2015.

5. 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.

Frankel's five-a-side team

Frankel's success story goes on a decade after his last run

6. A decade has passed since Frankel signed off his perfect career with victory in the Qipco Champion Stakes. His son, Cracksman, won the same race in 2017 and 2018. Frankel could be represented by five runners on Saturday: Eternal Pearl (Fillies & Mares), Inspiral (QEII), Adayar (Champion Stakes), Casanova (Balmoral) and Fantastic Fox (Balmoral).

7. Frankel’s sire - the late, great Galileo - has had nine winners on Champions Day. Other notable stallions with winners at the meeting include Dubawi (4) and Sea The Stars (2).

8. Ten-time champion trainer Sir Michael Stoute has achieved most things in racing but has yet to have a winner on Champions Day. His beaten runners included the 129-rated Crystal Ocean in the 2018 Champion Stakes. Bay Bridge (Champion Stakes) and Astro King (Balmoral Handicap) will try and fill the void this weekend. Mark Johnston, Clive Cox, Kevin Ryan and Joseph O’Brien are other notable trainers yet to strike.

9. John Gosden and Aidan O’Brien have each had eight winners, easily more than anyone else. However, neither of the pair have hit the target in the past two years, despite having a string of fancied runners.

10. 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.

Beware backing winners

Hollie Doyle was stunned after Glen Shiel won the 2020 Champion Day

11. Only one of the past nine winners of the Champions Sprint, Muharaar in 2015, had landed its previous race. Creative Force had been beaten in the July Cup, Lennox Stakes and Sprint Cup before triumphing last year. Librisa Breeze (2017) and Donjuan Triumphant (2019) had been beaten in all their races that year, while Sands Of Mali (2018) had lost his previous four starts and Gordon Lord Byron (2014) was on a seven-race losing streak. Meanwhile, Maarek (2012) had been defeated just six days before.

12. 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. Rohaan, a leading fancy this year, will be having his tenth start of the campaign. But he did win last time out . . .

13. 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. Rohaan, Art Power and Naval Crown were all support players behind Minzaal in this year’s renewal.

14. By contrast, seven of the 11 winners of the Fillies & Mares Stakes had won their previous completed start, four of them in Group One company. Three of the past five victors had run at the Arc meeting before, although Hydrangea (2017) had the luxury of a three-week gap when successful. Sea La Rosa, Insinuendo, Emily Dickinson and Verry Elleegant all ran at the Arec meeting this year.

15. Fifteen of the horses who have won or been second in the Fillies & Mares have been rated between 111 and 115. Six of the 15 possibles are in that golden band this time.

The Revenant flies flag for France

Jim Crowley, jockey of Baaeed, looks ahead to Champions Day

16. France have had ten runners in the QEII since 2011, scooping three wins and two places. In other words, 50 per cent of their challengers have won gold, silver or a bronze. The Revenant has done his bit, finishing second, first and fourth in the past three years, and is back for more.

17. Eight victors of the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes had won on their previous start, six in Group One company. Inspiral and Modern Games, who head the market, were successful at the highest level on their latest starts.

18. Frankel, Excelebration, Charm Spirit, Solow and Roaring Lion all won the QEII after going into the race as the highest-rated runner. Ten of the past 14 renewals have been won by a three-year-old.

19. Crystal Ocean (rated 129 in 2018) and Nathaniel (128 in 2011) have been high-rated runners to have been defeated on the day, both in the Champion Stakes. The former had the misfortune to bump into Cracksman, who had been rated 130 earlier in the summer, while the latter ran in an epic renewal and would have preferred softer ground.

20. Talking of the ground, 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 four times since the meeting was first staged in 2011 and there seems a reasonable chance it will also occur on Saturday if the weather forecast is accurate.

Dettori's second magnificent seven

Flashback: Dettori talks to Lydia Hislop after Cracksman's second success

21. The first four editions of Champions Day passed without Frankie Dettori having a winner, but he’s since chalked up seven winners – making him the most successful jockey at the meeting. All his winners have been for John Gosden. His big hopes on Saturday include Inspiral in the QEII.

22. Aldaary was a trends buster in the Balmoral last year. He became the first three-year-old to win the race from 26 runners, plus the first to win it carrying a penalty – from 17 who have tried. Six of those defeated when carrying a penalty have been 6-1 or shorter, including 2-1 favourite Sunray Major 12 months ago.

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

24. John 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 last year in a running where the stable’s 2-1 favourite, Sunray Major, disappointed. He and his son, Thady, will again rely on Magical Morning.

25. Four horses on Saturday are set to return after 137 days off or more, including Monthatham, absent since running in the Balmoral a year ago. He goes well fresh, so don't completely discount him. Rite Of Passage overcame 510 days off when winning he Long Distance Cup in 2012.

Thank you and goodnight

Baaeed will be bowing out, but will it be with a victory? (focusonracing.com)

26. If you've got this far, you deserve a bonus. Fourteen 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) and Star Catcher (2019). Baaeed is among those set to run for a final time on Saturday.

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