RACING’S BIG FINALE SATURDAY 21 OCTOBER 2017 ASCOT RACECOURSE MEDIA GUIDE QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS DAY MEDIA GUIDE CONTENTS 03 Chief Executive’s Foreword 40 Stobart Apprentice Championship 04 QIPCO British Champions Day Facts and Figures / Quotes 42 Leading Riders at QIPCO British Champions Day 05 Race Details 43 Ryan Moore Profile 06 Six Horses To Look Out For 44 Leading Trainers at QIPCO British Champions Day 06 Who Took My Crown 45 Aidan O’Brien Profile 07 Six Super Finishes 46 Showing Up Well In The Breeding Stakes 08 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup (Group 2) 47 Series Ambassadors 12 QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes (Group 2) 48 Background to the QIPCO British Champions Series and QIPCO British Champions Day 17 QIPCO British Champions Fillies’ & Mares’ Stakes (Group 1) 48 Structure of the QIPCO British Champions Series 22 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, sponsored by QIPCO (Group 1) 49 Title Partner – QIPCO Holding 28 QIPCO Champion Stakes (Group 1) 50 Ticket and Travel Information 34 Balmoral Handicap (sponsored by QIPCO) 51 Contact List and Media Accreditation 36 Stobart Flat Jockeys’ Championship QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS DAY MEDIA GUIDE FOREWORD ROD STREET This year’s QIPCO British Champions Day will be the seventh running of Britain’s richest raceday and, with so many stellar entries, we can’t wait for this year’s season finale. Last year, the day was rated the best raceday in Europe with two of the contests, the QIPCO Champion Stakes, won by Europe’s best horse, Almanzor, and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (sponsored by QIPCO) ranked amongst the top ten races in the World. For this year’s renewal there is an additional £100,000 in prize money for the QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup, bringing the total prize purse to a record breaking £4.3 million. We are grateful for the enduring and committed support of our sponsor QIPCO whose generosity allows us to stage such an incredible day’s racing. Champions Day is also the only time during the season that a British card features four Group 1 races and a Group 2, and the 242 horses entered for this year’s day represent a glittering cast which is brimming with quality. Many of the horses have already shone during this year’s QIPCO British Champions Series, which encompasses the top 35 races across the British summer flat racing season. Amongst them is the hero of Royal Ascot, Big Orange, last year’s Champions Day winner, The Tin Man, together with Enable, the dual Classic winner, King George heroine and the highest rated horse in Europe. Other proven stars are due to line up including Ribchester, as well as some of the new talents to have burst onto the scene this year including Harry Angel, Barney Roy and Stradivarius. There are also 30 exciting entries from France including last year’s QIPCO Champion Stakes winner, Almanzor, Prix de Diane winner, Senga, and Prix du Jockey Club winner Brametot. With so many exciting clashes in prospect on the track, we look forward to welcoming you to Ascot for QIPCO British Champions Day on Saturday 21 October. Rod Street Chief Executive, British Champions Series PAGE 03 QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS DAY MEDIA GUIDE FACTS AND FIGURES OF QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS SERIES 2017 L PR TA IZ BALMORAL HANDICAP SERIES O E T M MOST VALUABLE WINS O EUROPEAN HANDICAP M N ALREADY FOR 3 . E 4 Y RYAN MOORE £ OVER A MILE RUNNERS SO FAR 49 FROM IRELAND 9 FROM FRANCE 6 FROM USA 2 FROM GERMANY 1 FROM ARGENTINA WINNING M A R G I N ENABLE IN THE BIGGEST FIVE LENGTHS, RECORDED BY INVESTEC OAKS BIGG£ST PRIC£ SERIES RECORD £450,000 WINN£R WINGS WINS for the QIPCO OF EAGLES THIS YEAR ALREADY FOR BRITISH CHAMPIONS LONG DISTANCE CUP 40/1 AIDAN O’BRIEN SHORTEST WINNING MARGIN MOST IN THE RECORDED BY INVESTEC A NOSE ULYSSES IN THE VALUABLE EUROPEAN GROUP 1 DERBY CORAL-ECLIPSE (QIPCO Champion Stakes) OVER 1M2F EUROPEAN MOST VALUABLE 1MGROUP 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (Sponsored by QIPCO) PAGE 04 QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS DAY MEDIA GUIDE SATURDAY 21ST OCTOBER ASCOT RACECOURSE RACE DAY PROGRAMME 10.30AM GATES OPEN 1:25PM £450,000 - QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS LONG DISTANCE CUP (GROUP 2) 2 MILES (ROUND COURSE) 2:00PM £600,000 - QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS SPRINT STAKES (GROUP 1) 6 FURLONGS (STRAIGHT COURSE) 2:35PM £600,000 - QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS FILLIES’ & MARES’ STAKES (GROUP 1) 1 MILE AND 4 FURLONGS (ROUND COURSE) 3:10PM £1,100,000 - THE QUEEN ELIZABETH II STAKES (SPONSORED BY QIPCO) (GROUP 1) 1 MILE (STRAIGHT COURSE) 3:45PM £1,300,000 - QIPCO CHAMPION STAKES (GROUP 1) 1 MILE AND 2 FURLONGS (ROUND COURSE) 4:25PM £250,000 - THE BALMORAL HANDICAP (SPONSORED BY QIPCO) 1 MILE (STRAIGHT COURSE) *All timings subject to change PAGE 05 QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS DAY MEDIA GUIDE SIX HORSES TO LOOK OUT FOR ON ON QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS DAY CHURCHILL AND WINTER - VARIOUS OPTIONS | Trainer: Aidan O’Brien The tantalising prospect of this year’s Guineas winners both lining up on October 21 looks a distinct possibility. Winter has carried all before her this campaign and made it four Group 1 wins in succession with her success in the Qatar Nassau Stakes last week, having already struck twice in the Series in the QIPCO 1000 Guineas and Coronation Stakes. Her versatility regards distance means she has three Group 1 options - the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (Sponsored by QIPCO), QIPCO Champion Stakes and QIPCO British Champions Fillies’ & Mares’ Stakes. Churchill, winner of the QIPCO 2000 Guineas and Irish equivalent, has two - the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (Sponsored by QIPCO) and QIPCO Champion Stakes. His next likely race, the Juddmonte International Stakes at York, could help determine their paths. BARNEY ROY - QIPCO CHAMPION STAKES | Trainer: Richard Hannon Richard Hannon cannot wait for next year, when he believes Barney Roy will be even more the finished article and perhaps go on to show himself to be a champion over a mile and a half. Before that, though, there are more prizes to plunder this year with the St James’s Palace Stakes winner, who was perhaps unfortunate when runner-up in the QIPCO 2000 Guineas and Coral-Eclipse in between. The Juddmonte International Stakes is Barney Roy’s next likely race and then the QIPCO Champion Stakes looks a logical last port of call before 2018. RIBCHESTER - QUEEN ELIZABETH II STAKES (SPONSORED BY QIPCO) | Trainer: Richard Fahey Richard Fahey would love the opportunity to train Ribchester as a five-year-old but, in all likelihood, the triple Group 1 winner will bow out on Champions Day before beginning his second vocation as a stallion. Winner of the Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes and Queen Anne Stakes, he suffered a surprise neck defeat at the hands of Here Comes When in the Qatar Sussex Stakes last week but that reverse, in a muddling race run on attritional ground, can be excused. Expect him to bounce back quickly and make a bold bid to go one better than he did in last year’s Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (Sponsored by QIPCO), when he was beaten half a length by the brilliant Minding. HARRY ANGEL - QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS SPRINT STAKES | Trainer: Clive Cox Blue could be the colour on QIPCO British Champions Day because Harry Angel, like Barney Roy and Ribchester, is owned by Godolphin. Clive Cox has pencilled in the brilliant Darley July Cup winner for the 32Red Sprint Cup at Haydock on September 9, followed by the QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes. “He’s won his Group 1 and further progress in the department now looks on the cards, probably starting at Haydock (Sprint Cup) and the QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes would be another race for him,” Cox said in the aftermath of his emphatic win at Newmarket. Winning jockey Adam Kirby could not stop smiling at Newmarket. “He’s a machine, the best you will see for a long time – I truly believe that.” BIG ORANGE - QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS LONG DISTANCE CUP | Trainer: Michael Bell Big Orange could finish only fifth when contesting this race in 2014, when it was run on heavy ground, but has not looked back since. Now six, and more the finished article, he has looked better than ever this season, winning the Matchbook VIP Henry II Stakes at Sandown and the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot before beating all bar Stradivarius, who was receiving 13lb, when attempting to win a third successive Qatar Goodwood Cup. Good going or faster is considered ideal for Big Orange, although it was on the easy side when he ran so well at Goodwood last week. WHO TOOK MY CROWN? Six horses have attempted back-to-back wins in the QIPCO British Champions Series this season. None have managed repeat triumphs, but four have finished runner-up. Profitable finished second to Lady Aurelia in the King’s Stand Stakes having won the 5f sprint 12 months earlier, while two days later at the meeting Order Of St George lost his Gold Cup crown by a short head to Big Orange. Then, in the Darley July Cup, Limato beat all bar Harry Angel when trying to become a rare dual winner. The sequence continued when Big Orange, attempting a third successive win in the Qatar Goodwood Cup, was overhauled late on by Stradivarius. The other horses to have seen their crowns slip away have been Clever Cookie, sixth in the Betway Yorkshire Cup, and Highland Reel who was fourth in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes(Sponsored by QIPCO).