Ascot’s British Champions Day triumph


by Chris Pitt O


of 26,749 turned up at Ascot for the inaugural Qipco British Champions Day on October 15.


crowd of genuine enthusiasts, a proper racing crowd, far removed from the fripperies of the Royal Meeting. There had been critics aplenty of the BCD initiative, which had seen the Champion Stakes moved from its traditional Newmarket home, but an infusion of £3 million total prize money for the day’s five Group races was a gift horse that could not be looked in the mouth.


What’s more, this was a


n a day when the weather played its part to perfection, a crowd


that the QE II would almost inevitably overshadow the Champion Stakes – but he still had to remember his lines to really make the day complete. As pacemaker Bullet Train opened up a substantial lead over the rest of the field, Tom Queally was still biding his time on Frankel in second place with half a mile to run. There were baited breath mutterings of “Don’t panic, Tom” among the spectators in the packed stands, yet the result was never really in doubt, as Frankel swept past Bullet Train with well over a furlong to run and drew clear to beat Excelebration by an emphatic four lengths. The reception Frankel


Putting up the money is one thing, attracting the horses is another, but Ascot and Racing For Change combined to deliver the goods. It was generally agreed that the Champion Stakes field was of the highest quality for several years, and the quartet of races leading up to it were all Group 1 status in all but name. Fame And Glory got the


afternoon off to a memorable start when landing the two- mile Long Distance Cup. Jamie Spencer had sent Aiden O’Brien’s Gold Cup winner to the front with a mile and a half still to run, yet he stayed on resolutely to win by a length and a quarter from Godolphin’s Opinion Poll. Johnny Murtagh then


received when entering the winner’s enclosure was something associated more with Cheltenham than Ascot. It felt a privilege to be there as he made his lap of honour and left the stage. It was a case of “follow that” and Cirrus Des Aigles, racing for the tenth time in 2011, and Christophe Soumillon rose to the challenge in the £1.3 million Champion Stakes. The


French-trained five-year-old headed So You Think – who would surely have been the signature horse Ascot was seeking had not Frankel turned up – inside the final furlong and out-battled him to win by three-quarters of a length. Sadly, the most valuable


race ever run in Britain looks like being remembered more for Soumillon’s (subsequently overturned) whip ban rather than Cirrus Des Aigles gallant victory, after the jockey was adjudged to have hit the winner six times in the final furlong, one over the limit then in force. One couldn’t help feeling


sorry for Ascot, sponsors Qipco and Racing For Change, who, while retaining a dignified silence, must have felt hugely deflated, having worked their socks off all year to promote British racing’s richest-ever raceday, only to find its publicity hijacked in the preceding week by the inexplicable and disastrous decision of the BHA to introduce the new whip rules just five days beforehand. Irrespective of the rights


and wrongs of the issue, it was a classic example of racing’s leadership shooting its sport in the foot, akin almost to football imposing a rule banning tackling just before the start of the World Cup. It was simply asking for trouble – and sure enough, that’s exactly what they got. That, however, was something over which Ascot had no control, as indeed was the cloudless blue sky that served as a glorious background to the day. In the areas they could control, however, they did their customary excellent job. Not only was the racing top-class but Ascot had pulled out all the stops in providing racing-related entertainment for kids – and adults too, come to that. There was an autograph session featuring Lester Piggott, Pat Eddery, Willie Carson, Joe Mercer and others; an appearance by Joey, the equine star of ‘War Horse’; the chance to meet dual Cheltenham Festival winner Monsignor; with lots of ‘touchy feely’ stuff on display, such as jockeys’ silks, skull caps, saddles, blinkers and whips; along with the opportunity to take part in a computerised simulated race, a couple of equicisers, and a karaoke


produced a pair of vintage rides in the two Group 2 races, winning the Sprint Stakes on James Fanshawe’s Deacon Blues, and making all on Oaks heroine Dancing Rain in the Fillies’ and Mares’ Stakes. What the afternoon really needed was a star attraction and, by God, they got one in Frankel, in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. Getting him to run at Ascot ensured that the audience would come to witness the performance – and Frankel’s presence meant


Frankel with Tom Queally after winning the Queen Elizabeth 11 Stakes. 18 November/December 2011 BOS Magazine


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