Your esential guide to the QIPCO Champion Stakes

It is unlikely the Italian philosopher Giacomi Leopardi had horse racing in mind when he said “anticipation is the greatest happiness” but he was onto something. Who cannot have a quiver of excitement about what lies in store at Ascot on Saturday when a belting edition of the QIPCO Champion Stakes will cap five successive Group One contests.

The biggest race of them all will take little more than two minutes to unfold, but we’ve still got four nights and three full days to savour the build-up, consider all that has passed, and of course try and work out who will win. 

Since the first Champions Day, 14 years ago, there have been 70 pattern races and only three have featured races where at least three of the cast have had an exalted official rating of 125 or more. Barring misfortune, this will be fourth with Ombudsman (rated 128), Delacroix (126) and Calandagan (125) on collision course. 

These one-word named horses (you would want Delacroix on your side if you were playing Scrabble) share plenty more in common. 

Each is usually held up; each has a potent turn of foot; each has won six races (666 – this really is a beast of a race); and each seem at their peak, between them landing three of the biggest races of the year on their latest respective starts: the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Juddmonte International and Irish Champion Stakes. 

They represent the most powerful training establishments in England, Ireland and France, not to mention three mega owner-breeders in Godolphin, Coolmore and Aga Khan Studs. 

Francis Graffard, represented by Calandagan, was already assured the French trainers’ title before scooping the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe this month, while the all-conquering Aidan O’Brien, responsible for Delacroix, will be Ireland’s champion trainer for the 27th successive time and has a decent advantage in his quest to win an eighth British title. However, John & Thady Gosden could yet give themselves a chance of catching him in that race if all their big guns hit the target this weekend. 

The Gosden/O’Brien sub-plot goes deeper, of course. The former lamented the run of the race when Ombudsman was caught close home by Delacroix in the Coral-Eclipse, as did O’Brien when the tables were turned the following month at York. It was a bit for tit for tat. 

And then came that unusual exchange before a third possible clash between the colts in the Irish Champion Stakes last month. Gosden Sr was having none of it, saying he didn’t fancy taking on “multiple Aidan O’Brien entries on a track with a short straight”. We had only just stopped choking on our cornflakes when O’Brien referred to the fact that “John whinges a little”.

Two of the most successful, well-mannered men in the sport well versed in saying all the right things about the operation of each other suddenly sounded a bit like boxing promoters trying to drum up business ahead of a big bout. Perhaps they knew all along their heavyweights would be coming out swinging in Berkshire in mid-October. Nobody at Ascot will be complaining, with a couple of enclosures “sold out” at the start of the week. 

Do not be fooled into thinking this is a three-cornered fight. There are some splendid horses among the supporting cast who, on another day, would be top of the bill. Here’s a guide to all the runners with a verdict to follow on Thursday morning once we got the final line-up and draw. 

Official rating: 117. Group One wins: 0. Prize money won: £212,267. Odds: 18-1. 

The double-figure odds on offer look chunky when you consider that Almaqam beat Ombudsman by 1¾ lengths in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes on easy ground at Sandown in April, albeit he was getting 3lb and had the benefit of a run. 

Ed Walker was adamant his programme would be determined by underfoot conditions – he’s clearly a horse who enjoys some give underfoot – but his next two starts were on fast going and, unlike Ombudsman, his progress has stalled. 

Walker was keen on running him in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, only to be deterred by a dry forecast and reroute him to Ascot. But having skipped France, where conditions ended up testing, there is the prospect of another sound surface waiting for him. It’s all been a bit of a muddle. 

Official rating: 125. Group One wins 2. Prize money won:  £2,895,748. Odds: 3-1. 

You must journey back more than 40 years ago to find the last horse (Time Charter) with a King George and Champion Stakes on his/her CV, but Calandagan looks to have outstanding claims of bridging that gap. 

He’s a tad unlucky not to have already achieved the feat, having looked sure to win the Champion Stakes last year after leading deep inside the final furlong, only for the mud-loving Anmaat to collar him in the final strides. Perhaps it would have been a different story had he not met some trouble in running or challenged away from the rail, like the other winners on the card that day when the action took place on Ascot’s Inner Course. 

That was then, this is now. Calandagan has stuck to 12 furlongs this year, finding one too good in the Sheema Classic and Coronation Cup before finally gaining the top level victories his ability merits with successive wins in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. 

He was awesome in each, swamping top-class rivals for pace in the former, and then showing great acceleration to collar Kalpana at Ascot after giving that classy filly first run. 

If you have any quibbles about that form, cast your mind back to last year’s Juddmonte International when Calandagan swept from ninth to second in the final three furlongs before being unable to catch City Of Troy, who won in a record time. The supporting players included Bluestocking, who went on to win the Arc, and Japanese ace Durezza, subsequently touched off in the Japan Cup. 

I’ve no worries about Calandagan dropping back to ten furlongs as he has stacks of speed, and he clearly loves the demands of Ascot, too, having also bolted up in the King Edward VII Stakes last year. All ground seems to come alike to him, while the pacemakers signed up for this contest will help him as much, if not more, than his rivals. 

He's also coming here fresh after a deliberate decent break, like such as Farhh, Cracksman and Bay Bridge before him. There’s nothing not to like. 

Official rating: 123. Group One wins: 2. Prize money won:  £955,680. Odds: 16-1. 

Talking of decent breaks, what to make of Economics? It will be some training performance if this hulk of a horse can return from a year off to beat such a stellar cast. 

He went off at just 2-1 for the Champion Stakes last year on the back of his thrilling success in the Irish equivalent, but trailed home sixth, having burst a blood vessel. By all accounts, similar had occurred when he landed the Dante earlier in the campaign. 

This term has passed by without him because of minor setbacks, although it would be wrong to say he has not seen a racecourse in the past year. He had a satisfactory gallop at Newbury before his intended return at Royal Ascot and had a proper workout with two stablemates before racing at Newmarklet recently. 

William Haggas described him as “rusty” at Headquarters but has had another two weeks to turn more screws.  If nothing else, this will help tee him up for next month’s Bahrain’s International Trophy. 

Official rating: 117. Group One wins: 0. Prize money won:  £501,179. Odds:  20-1. 

Andre Fabre has achieved most things in racing, but he’s yet to have a winner on Champions Day. None of his previous six challengers have finished closer than fourth, and the last of them was in 2018. 

I’m not sure that First Look is the horse who is again to break the mould, even though Wathnan Racing felt compelled to supplement him on Monday. Their peacock blue and gold silks are going to be popping up everywhere on Saturday. 

First Look won only one of his first ten races but arrives on a roll, landing the Prix Dollar a couple of weeks ago, having previously edged out Goliath at Deauville. The latter does not seem the same horse who won the King George last year, for all he won another Group One prize last time. 

Fabre has attributed First Look’s improvement down to greater maturity, but this looks beyond him. 

Official rating: 116. Group One wins: 0. Prize money won: £207,635. Odds: 25-1. 

It would be quite something if Fox Legacy hits the jackpot here 16 months after being well-beaten off a mark of 77 in a handicap at Thirsk. However, he has looked a different horse since being gelded at the end of last season and being switched to Andrew Balding from the yard of Sir Michael Stoute. 

His only defeat in four starts came when sixth in the Royal Hunt Cup, although he was first home on his part of the track that day. Next time out, he overcame a wide draw in the John Smith’s Cup at York and on his latest start he bolted up in a conditions event at Goodwood. But now he is in with the big boys.

Official rating:  121. Group One wins: 3. Prize money won: £1,994,045. Odds: 40-1. 

Last season’s Irish Derby winner looked set for another fruitful campaign when getting the better of Anmaat and Kalpana in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at The Curragh in May but the wheels have come off, which started when he was a subdued fifth behind Ombudsman in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot. 

Dropping down in class did not revive him in his next two starts and on his latest start he beat only one home in the Prix De L’Arc de Triomphe. You need a very forgiving nature to think he can do better than in the Champion Stakes last year, when he beat only a couple home. 

Official rating: 128. Group One wins: 2. Prize money won:  £1,648,163. Odds: 2-1. 

Ombudsman has provided some of the highlights of the year, gaining dazzling triumphs in the Prince of Wales Stakes and Juddmonte International. 

On both occasions, he showed tremendous acceleration from off the pace, winning at the main expense of Anmaat on the first occasion, and Delacroix on the second. That pair went on to dominate the Irish Champion Stakes. 

In between, Ombudsman had also looked sure to win the Coral-Eclipse, only for Delacroix to pounce on him. It came soon after his Ascot success and a messy race unfolded against him. 

A pacemaker helped him at York, even though it did not look that way for a long way. He’s going to get similar assistance this time. 

Unraced at two, his connections went gently-gently with him last term, avoiding those sitting at the top table. He won all four of his starts, but his form this year has been on a different level. 

Having skipped the Irish Champion Stakes, his batteries will have been refreshed, but should he be so short in the betting? For my money, Calandagan’s overall claims looks superior, yet he is twice his price. 

Official rating: 107. Group One wins: 0. Prize money won:  £134,971. Odds:  125-1. 

He’s got a great back story, being a cheaply bought Ballydoyle reject, but a year on from making no impact in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, it’s hard to think he will be doing anything but make up the numbers here after a winless campaign that included a defeat in Listed company at Pontefract. 

Official rating: 117. Group One wins: 0. Prize money won: £81,313. Odds: 20-1. 

The grey has quickly developed into a smart performer, although the Doonside Cup rather fell in his lap at Ayr last time after he had struggled to go the early gallop. 

That win was achieved on soft ground, and he had looked suited by similar conditions when previously scoring at York and Newmarket. 

Dryer going is a niggle for him, while his official rating looks inflated. He’s also short on experience, with the prospect of Saturday’s race being something of a shock to the system. 

Official rating: 126. Group One wins: 2. Prize money won: £1,640,754. Odds: 11-4. 

You may want to look away now if you are in the Delacroix Fan Club. Aidan O’Brien has run 25 colts or entire horses in the Champion Stakes and they have all returned to Ballydoyle defeated. Since the race was switched to Ascot in 2011, those beaten have included So You Think (rated 126), Highland Reel (123) and Ruler Of The World (122). 

The baton now passes to a colt who will almost certainly be having his final race before going to stud, and many will fancy him to halt an unlikely run for his record-breaking trainer after his exciting victory in the Irish Champion Stakes when he surged to the front with an impressive burst running down to the final two furlongs. 

Before that, he’d had two tussles with Ombudsman, clawing him back at Sandown before chasing him home at York. Nobody can agree who is the superior. 

My biggest fear for Delacroix is that he’s hard a long year, winning two Derby trials at the start of the campaign before blowing out at Epsom. And since then, he’s contested all the top ten-furlong contests. 

O’Brien may have to wait a bit longer before ending his hoodoo. 

Official rating: 109. Group One wins: 0. Prize money won:  £56,022. Odds: 150-1. 

Supplemented pacemakers have provided plenty of box-office entertainment this year, with Qirat winning the Sussex Stakes at 150-1 and Birr Castle threatening to repeat the trick in the Juddmonte International before being collared late on. 

Now, we get to see what Devil’s Advocate can bring to the party. He would be a stable flagbearer in many yard, but Godolphin have the luxury of lobbing him in here to set honest fractions for their main hope, Ombudsman. 

He looks qualified for the job after making all in a handicap at Doncaster’s St Leger meeting last time, although he set only steady/slow fractions that day and RaceiQ’s data reveals his 0-20mph speeds have been a mix. William Buick will be hoping he does not have to shout “get on with it” from the back of the field. 

Official rating:  108. Group One wins: 0. Prize money won:  £228,888. Odds: 150-1. 

One way or another, an honest tempo is on the cards as Mount Kilimanjaro is almost certainly in here to help tee things up for Delacroix. He performed that role admirably under Ronan Whelan in the Irish Champion Stakes last time, going not too fast, not too slow, before dropping away (as all pacemakers in the olden days used to do!). 

Official rating: 116. Group One wins: 0. Prize money won:  £266,096. Odds: 25-1. 

Two polished performances at York this season have been sandwiched in between two dismal efforts away from the Knavesmire. Now we get to see what Pride Of Arras makes of Ascot. 

He looked exciting when winning the Dante on his return, but he beat only one home in the Derby and then ran even worse in the Irish equivalent, when trailing home last. He suffered a third loss shortly after that when being gelded. 

Pride Of Arras got back on track when landing the Great Voltigeur last time, having too much speed for stamina-blessed rivals in a muddling contest. Whether he benefitted from his surgery, or merely enjoyed returning to York, we will never know. Perhaps it was a bit of both. 

What we do know is that he has got a lot more on his plate. 

Official rating: 107. Group One wins: 0. Prize money won:  £67,264. Odds:  125-1. 

It is easy to forget he was linked with lofty targets in the spring when he won the Classic Trial at Sandown, when he had Damysus back in third. Since returning from four months off, he has made little impact in two French assignments, and it could be that he’s in here as a pacemaker for Delacroix (or on standby to step in for Mount Kilmanjaro if that horse has to miss out). He made the running when runner-up in the Tyros Stakes last summer, although he did not go quick. 

Official rating: 117. Group One wins: 0. Prize money won:  £219,782. Odds: 66-1. 

Looked to have the world at his feet when winning the Acomb in a rapid time last year. He began this year as ante-post favourite for just about every big race in the calendar but his efforts this year have been a mixture, with connections seemingly struggling to ascertain what his optimum trip is. 

He has gone close to landing a couple of Group One prizes, including when a close third in the Prix Du Moulin last time, but he again did not look straightforward at Longchamp. He would be moving back up in distance here and seems more likely to stick to a mile in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes earlier on the card. 

To follow on Thursday morning.