LIGHTNING SPEAR “FLYING” AHEAD OF QUEEN ELIZABETH II STAKES CELEBRATION MILE WINNER IN GREAT SHAPE AHEAD OF QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS DAY GLITTERING CAST OF 28 REMAIN IN QIPCO CHAMPION STAKES SIXTY ENTRIES REVEALED FOR BALMORAL HANDICAP Lightning Spear is on course to spearhead a strong team of challengers for the race sponsor on QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot on October 15. The five-year-old, trained by David Simcock, carries the familiar maroon and gold silks of Qatar Racing and will represent them in the £1.1 million Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, sponsored by QIPCO. Lightning Spear was a fine third to Tepin in the Queen Anne Stakes on his last visit to the Berkshire course and on his latest start he was a fluent winner of the Group 2 Doom Bar Celebration Mile at Goodwood. “He’s in top form, flying, and we are hoping to see him run a huge race,” said David Redvers, racing and bloodstock manager for Qatar Racing. “I always felt he was a Group 1 horse, right from his two-year-olds days, and it’s been a case of getting there. He’s got there now and now we need to win one as I’m hoping he’s going to make a serious stallion prospect.” A total of 19 remain engaged in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes after Tuesday’s forfeit stage, including Belardo, winner of the Al Shaqab Lockinge earlier in the year, as well as Galileo Gold and Ribchester, who have already met three times this season. Galileo Gold, winner of the QIPCO 2000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes, got the better of the argument on the first two occasions but Ribchester turned the tables when landing the Jacques Le Marois at Deauville last month. Other Champions Day contenders for Sheikh Fahad Al Thani and his five brothers, who own the family-run investment company QIPCO Holding, will include Simple Verse, Pallasator and Mountain Bell. Simple Verse, winner of the Ladbrokes St Leger and QIPCO British Champions Fillies’ & Mares’ Stakes last season, was not at her best in three races over a mile and a half in the first half of the season but, stepped back up in distance, bounced back with a pulsating last-gasp victory in the DFS Park Hill Stakes over an extended 1m 6f at Doncaster last month. She will either defend her crown in the QIPCO British Champions Fillies’ & Mares’ Stakes or step up to two miles for the first time in the QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup. There are 28 left in the former race, with a strong Irish contingent including Zhukova, Minding, Found and Seventh Heaven. “My suspicion is that she will run in the staying race, but I don’t know for sure,” Redvers said. “It depends on whether she stays in training next year and that decision has yet to be made by Sheikh Fahad and his brothers. The extra two furlongs makes all the difference to her and you would imagine that the two miles would suit her well. “She’s something like 6-1 for the Long Distance Cup, and 12-1 for the Fillies’ & Mares’. We’ve got another filly running in the latter for sure, in Mountain Bell, so my hunch is that she will go for the staying race.” If Simple Verse does contest the £350,000 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup, for which 23 remain entered, she will be joined by Pallasator, who has finished third and fourth in the past two runnings. Since then, last year’s Doncaster Cup winner, trained by Sir Mark Prescott, has been placed in the Qatar Goodwood Cup and the Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup on his last two starts. “Pallasator had a minor setback at home and so had to miss his defence of the Doncaster Cup, but he’s back in work and as long as nothing else happens between now and then he should be spot on,” Redvers said. “He seems versatile regards ground but, for a big horse, he’s not the bravest and doesn’t like to be surrounded. If there’s a big field we will need to be away from it because otherwise he slightly curls up.” Other notable entries to stand their ground are the past two winners of the Gold Cup - Order Of St George and Trip To Paris - plus recent QIPCO British Champions Series winners Quest For More and Sheikhzayedroad, as well as Forgotten Rules (the 2014 winner) and Clever Cookie. A star-studded cast of 28 remain in the QIPCO Champion Stakes, headed by Almanzor, brilliant winner of the Irish equivalent this month, having previously won the French Derby and for whom the Ascot race is the preferred destination. The first four home in last year’s renewal - Fascinating Rock, Found, Jack Hobbs and Racing History – are on course to meet again, while the first two in this year’s Investec Derby, Harzand and US Army Ranger, plus Minding, the QIPCO 1000 Guineas and Investec Oaks winner, are other possibles. My Dream Boat, Highland Reel and Hawkbill, all winners of races that form part of the 35-race QIPCO British Champions Series, are others in the mix. Similarly, the 24 who remain in the QIPCO British Champions Sprint provide a giddy combination. Mecca’s Angel, the dual Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes heroine, and Quiet Reflection, winner of the Commonwealth Cup and 32Red Sprint Cup, remain on course for a potential clash with the likes of Limato, Twilight Son, Shalaa, Lumiere and Signs Of Blessing. Dual Group 1 winner Twilight Son, who finished runner-up to Muhaarar in last year’s running, will be having his final race before standing as a stallion at Cheveley Park next year. “Twilight Son is definitely heading in that direction,” Henry Candy, his trainer, said. “He looks fantastic and is in great form.” EDDERY HOPING DONNCHA CAN GAIN DESERVED REWARD IN BALMORAL HANDICAP Robert Eddery is hoping Donncha, fourth in the QIPCO-sponsored Balmoral Handicap Stakes last year, can go three places better in this year’s renewal. The consistent five-year-old gelding is among 60 entries revealed today for the £250,000 contest, which takes place over a mile and concludes the action on QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot on October 15. Donncha has been knocking on the door in a string of big handicaps without quite managing to land one for his Newmarket-based trainer. He has been absent for two months since finishing a fine third to Franklin D in the Betfred Mile at Goodwood but Eddery says that has been a deliberate ploy. “The reason he’s not run for a while is that I wanted to freshen him up,” Eddery said. “He will run at Ascot on Saturday [in the totescoop6 Challenge Cup] and then head for the Balmoral Handicap a couple of weeks later. “He’s a tough, honest horse who is always very competitive. He would be one of the stars of our yard and is just a few pounds below being a Group horse. He always gives his all in these big handicaps and is so consistent. I feel there is one coming his way and it would be great if that were on Saturday or on Champions Day. He’s very well in himself and has been working well.” Saeed Bin Suroor, successful last year with Musaddas, has four possibles this time in Basem, Carry On Deryck, Silent Attack and Very Talented, while John Gosden’s five entries include GM Hopkins, who was runner-up last year and the three-year old Castle Harbour. Others engaged include Bronze Angel, winner of the race in 2014. Notes to Editors About QIPCO British Champions Series The QIPCO British Champions Series is designed to throw the spotlight on Britain’s best Flat races and will climax on 15 October 2016 with the richest fixture in British racing history, QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot. The Series features 35 Flat races staged at ten of the UK’s leading racecourses: Ascot, Doncaster, Epsom Downs, Goodwood, Haydock Park, Newbury, Newmarket’s July Course, Newmarket’s Rowley Mile, Sandown Park and York. It encompasses the top races at British racing’s key festivals, including the QIPCO Guineas Festival at Newmarket, the Investec Derby Festival at Epsom, Royal Ascot, the Newmarket July Festival, The Qatar Goodwood Festival, the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival at York and the Ladbrokes St Leger Festival at Doncaster. QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday 15th October is the richest Flat raceday in the British calendar with £4.2m in prize money on offer and boasts a card comprising four Group 1s, a Group 2 and the richest mile handicap in Europe. To access the QIPCO British Champions Day Media Pack, please click here. For further information please contact: Harriet Collins, Head of Marketing & PR, QIPCO British Champions Series, on 07827 957113 or [email protected] Naomi Lawson, Senior PR Manager, QIPCO British Champions Series, on 07881 266359 or [email protected] .