QIPCO Champions Day at Ascot

Before we leave on a well-deserved holiday we shall have a quick look at Ascot´s big Saturday meeting, one of the best ever staged in the U.K. It begins with the Long Distance Cup over 2 miles at 14.50 CET, which looks between Opinion Poll (Mahmood al Zarooni / F.Dettori) and Fame and Glory (Aidan O´Brien / J.Spencer). Although the latter won the Gold Cup here, we prefer the more consistent Opinion Poll over this trip.

The Sprint Cup over 6 furlongs at 15.25 looks very open with 16 runners. James Fanshawe has a strong hand here with Deacon Blues (Johnny Murtagh) and Society Rock (Pat Cosgrave). Although the trainer has expressed misgivings about the fast ground for Deacon Blues, he still looks the most likely winner. The fillies and mares race over 1 1/2 miles at 16.00 is another open affair. Ferdoos (Roger Varian/ Neil Callan) beat Vita Nova (Sir Henry Cecil/ Tom Queally) in May but has not run since, while her rival has improved. Howvr we like Dancing Rain (William Haggas/ Murtagh) and hope she can give the German form a boost after her easy win at Düsseldorf.

The Queen Elizabeth II Stake over a mile at 16.35 is the day´s highlight and stars the best horse in the world on official ratings - Frankel (Cecil/ Queally). He is unbeaten in 8 starts and now equipped with a pacemaker should make it nine in a row. The Queen will be there to present the trophy to Khalid Abdullah. We hope that German classic form will receive another boost here from Excelebration (Marco Botti/ Spencer), while third place should go to French filly Immortal Verse (Robert Collet/ Gerald Mosse). Nothing else has a chance.

The Champion Stakes at 17.10 is another highlight, although the decision to run the race here instead of at Newmarket was very controversial. Twice Over (Cecil/ Ian Mongan) has won the race twice (at Newmarket) but we cannot imagine that he will win this time and prefer stable companion Midday (Queally), who has not been out of the first two for the past 2 years. Snow Fairy (Ed Dunlop/ Olivier Peslier) and So You Think (O´Brien/ Ryan Maoore), 3rd and 4th in the Arc, and top French performer Cirrus des Aigles (Corinne Barbe) make this really tough, but our fancy is the lightly-raced and potentially top-class Dubai Prince (al Zarooni/ Dettori).