French jockey Marie Velon is counting down the days until her return to Ascot on Saturday when she reunites with her beloved Iresine (Fr) (Manduro {Ger}) in a red-hot edition of the G1 QIPCO Champion Stakes, with top-class three-year-olds Economics (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) and Calandagan (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) featuring among the likely opposition.
Trained by Jean-Pierre Gauvin, Iresine provided his rider with a landmark success in October 2022 when winning the Prix Royal-Oak, the first Group 1 victory of Velon's career. The pair struck again last year in another Group 1, the Prix Ganay, and most recently they won last month's G2 Prix Foy at Longchamp to take their overall tally of wins together to 15.
Having been a part of the winning Ladies Team at this year's Shergar Cup on her only previous visit to a British racecourse, Velon is hopeful of another memorable result back at Ascot on Saturday when she teams up with Iresine in the £1.3 million feature race on QIPCO British Champions Day.
“Im very excited to be returning to Ascot,” she summed up. “My first experience of it was amazing. I didn't win but my team did! To ride in the Champion Stakes on Iresine is a dream, as he is the best horse of my life. We grew up together, so to run in this big race is unbelievable, for both me and the team.”
Velon added, “Calandagan and Economics are the best horses of the season, but I will count on Iresine's experience to beat them. It's a beautiful challenge and we will do our best. He is in great form, better than last time. He will be 100% for Saturday and the ground will be perfect for him. I can't wait!”
Suborics Seeking Biggest Victory as a Trainer with Quantanamera
Former jockey Andreas Suborics is another Shergar Cup alumnus set to be involved in the action at Ascot on Saturday, this time as a trainer when he saddles Quantanamera (Ger) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies and Mares Stakes.
A four-length winner of the G2 Grand Prix de Deauville when last seen in August, Quantanamera is a general 10-1 chance to provide the Austrian-born Suborics with his most notable success since he turned his attentions to training, with the testing conditions at Ascot promising to play to her strengths.
“We have been looking forward to this race and the ground is ideal for her,” said Suborics. “She had her best performance on this kind of ground. Hopefully, they stay on the outside track and don't move to the inside. She's in great condition and everything has gone brilliantly with her.”
He continued, “She was a champion two-year-old in Germany, but then she injured her back leg in March last year, so for all of her three-year-old season we were more concerned with keeping her healthy than her races. This time she started out not too bad. She was second at Saint-Cloud [in the G2 Prix Corrida] and then she had an infection when she ran at Cologne. I brought her back a bit too quickly from that at Hamburg.
“In Munich [when finishing fourth in the G1 Grosser Dallmayr-Preis – Bayerisches Zuchtrennen) she was the fastest horse in the end, but the 2,000 metres is just a bit sharp for her, so I was confident going into Deauville and the way she won was impressive. She showed her true ability that day.”
On his previous experiences at Ascot as a rider, Suborics added, “I rode there three or four times in the Shergar Cup and won two or three races. I rode Paolini in the Prince of Wales's Stakes, so I know the track a bit. I also rode Overdose in the Group 1 sprint [the King's Stand Stakes] and finished fourth, so I have had a few rides at the track.
“Of course, there's an amazing grandstand now and it's brilliant to be a part of this big day as a trainer–I'm really looking forward to flying over for Saturday.”
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