A total of 151 horses remain in the five QIPCO British Champions Day races after the second entry stage, the highest number in the past six years. The event will be staged at Ascot on Saturday, Oct. 19.
The G1 QIPCO Champion Stakes sees G1 Irish Champion Stakes hero Economics (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) square off with Franci-Henri Graffard's G1 International Stakes runner-up Calandagan (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), and Jean-Pierre Gauvin's Iresine (Fr) (Manduro {Ger}). Joseph O'Brien's Group 1 winner Al Riffa (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) remains in the entries, as does Ambiente Friendly (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) for James Fanshawe. The G1 Japan Cup-bound Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and GI Breeders' Cup Classic hopeful City Of Troy (Justify) are also still included by Aidan O'Brien.
Star miler Charyn (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) is the leading fancy in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes sponsored by QIPCO. He will be challenged by Group 1-winning milers Big Rock (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) for Maurizio Guarnieri, Mario Baratti's Metropolitan (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}), Sussex Stakes scorer Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) for Charlie Appleby, and Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) for John and Thady Gosden.
Said Charyn's trainer Roger Varian, “He's in great form and Ascot, where he was very good in the Queen Anne, is the
plan. He's had a terrific season and it might have been even better, as he was arguably a bit unlucky at Longchamp in the Moulin, but at the start of the year we'd have been very happy to settle for what he's already achieved.”
In a wide open G1 QIPCO Champions Sprint, G1 July Cup hero Mill Stream (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) hopes to double his top-tier tally for Jane Chapple-Hyam. Others signed on are: Audience (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}) for the Gosdens, William Haggas's G1 Sprint Cup hero Montassib (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), G1 Commonwealth Cup victor Inisherin (GB) (Shamardal) for Kevin Ryan and James Fanshawe's Kind Of Blue (GB) (Blue Point {Ire}).
“Kind of Blue has been in good form since his second in the Betfair Sprint Cup and James Doyle came and had a sit on him on Saturday as he's now owned by Wathnan Racing,” said Fanshawe. “The Champions Sprint at Ascot is the plan for him and it's a race we've won before with both Deacon Blues (GB) (Compton Place {GB}) and The Tin Man (GB) (Equiano {Fr}).
“Kind of Blue is out of a sister to Deacon Blues and a half-sister to The Tin Man, so he's their nephew if you like. They were both 4-year-olds when they won on Champions Day and Kind of Blue is only three, but he's by Blue Point and a big, strong colt. He hopefully has a bright future.”
The four Group 1 on the card is the QIPCO Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes with 29 names still in the running. Some of the headline names include Ralph Beckett's Bluestocking (GB) (Camelot {GB}), Aidan O'Brien's Opera Singer (Justify) and Content (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the Gosdens' Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), and Andrew Balding's Kalpana (GB) (Study Of Man {Ire}). Adding some international flare is Quantanamera (Ger) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) for Andreas Suborics and Germany.
Stayer supreme Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) anchors the G2 QIPCO Champions Long Distance Cup, with all of the usual suspects remaining in the race barring Courage Mon Ami (GB) (Frankel {GB}) for Wathnan Racing. The Aidan O'Brien runner will lock horns with 2023 winner Trawlerman (Ire) (Golden Horn {GB}) for Charlie Appleby, the Gosdens' Sweet William (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), Alan King's Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}) and Al Nayyir (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) for Tom Clover.
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