Didier Blot

Alan King trainee Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}--Shao Line {Fr}, by General Holme) had annexed the last two renewals of Ascot's G2 Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup, but had failed to find a way past Coltrane (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) in last month's G2 Doncaster Cup. Having earlier run third in a thrilling edition of August's G1 Goodwood Cup, he was back at the top of his game to exact revenge on that rival and registered a hat-trick of victories in the two-mile marathon after a ding-dong tussle. Hollie Doyle was...

A G1 Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup without Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) meant that for the first time in five years it was heading elsewhere and Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}) stepped forward to claim the title in the heavy conditions he relishes on Tuesday. As he proved when winning Ascot's G2 Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup in October, the ground cannot be slow enough for the Alan King-trained 5-year-old and with the reigning champion taken out he traded as the 6-5 favourite. Always prominent under Hollie Doyle, the...

Ascot's rain-affected British Champions Day opened with the £300,000 Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup over the best part of two miles and it was Hollie Doyle, fresh from setting a record number of winners earlier in the week, who celebrated success with a wide-margin tally aboard Barbary Lions 5's 4-year-old gelding Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}). The Alan King trainee's previous best came in July's Listed Tapster S. at Haydock and he earned his place in this line-up coming back off an eighth--behind the reopposing Fujaira Prince (Ire) (Pivotal {GB})--in...