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Preamble
Greg Wood
Hello from Ascot racecourse in Royal Berkshire, where the sky is grey but the forecast is dry, the going is good on both the straight and round courses and first seven-race Champions Day card will get underway with the Long Distance Cup at 12.55pm (all times BST).
This is the 15th running of Champions Day since the card was created as an end-of-season showcase for the best of British Flat racing, and not only the first with a seven-race programme, thanks to the addition of a £250,000 juvenile contest, but also the first ever afternoon at a British track with five Group One races on the schedule.
That is thanks to an upgrade to the opener from Group Two status, while what has become a familiar run of four Group One races in a row will kick off with the Champions Sprint at 2.05pm and finish with a flourish as a top-notch field goes to post for the Champion Stakes at 4.05pm.
Calandagan, the King George winner here earlier in the season, is edging towards Ombudsman in the betting for the feature event this morning, but John Gosden’s colt seems certain to set off as the favourite at around 7-4 and his jockey, William Buick, has plenty more to look forward to besides as he is also aboard Trawlerman, odds-on for the Long Distance Cup, and Words Of Truth, the warm favourite for the Two-Year-Old race.
Greg Wood's Saturday's tips
ShowCatterick: 10.30 Trapper John; 11.00 Sierra Sands; 11.28 Secret Sonata; 11.56 Made All; 12.23 Wreck It Ryley; 12.50 Ahamoment; 1.20 Venture Capital; 1.55 Beauty Choice
Ascot: 12.55 Trawlerman; 1.30 Words Of Truth; 2.05 Big Mojo; 2.45 Waardah; 3.25 Fallen Angel (nb); 4.05 Ombudsman; 4.40 Oliver Show (nap)
Stratford-on-Avon: 1.15 Electric Eddy; 1.50 Absolutely Doyen; 2.30 Juggernaut; 3.05 Seeyouinmydreams; 3.40 Baikal; 4.25 Yorgunnabeplucky; 5.05 Prince De Juilley
Newton Abbot: 2.15 Le Soleil Reve; 2.54 Of Corse I Can; 3.35 Dance And Glance; 4.15 Diplomatie; 4.55 Blueking D’Oroux; 5.25 Jaitroplaclasse; 5.55 Soldier Reeves
Wolverhampton: 4.29 Almarada Prince; 4.59 Massimo Blue; 5.30 Bystander; 6.00 Stipulation; 6.30 Coolree; 7.00 T Or Coffey; 7.30 Invincible Crown; 8.00 Simply Blue; 8.30 Desert Emperor
The Buick treble comes out at around 9-1 and the bookies could be looking at a chunky payout if it is still alive after two legs, while Field Of Gold, a hugely impressive winner of the St James’s Palace Stakes here at the Royal meeting before blotting his copybook at Goodwood in July, will also be popular with acca-builders in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.
Oisin Murphy will be crowned champion jockey during the afternoon, but today’s card could conceivably have an impact on the yet-to-be-finally-decided race for the Flat trainer’s title. Aidan O’Brien has a commanding lead of around £600,000 over Andrew Balding, who is in turn around the same amount ahead of John and Thady Gosden, but the Gosdens will have hopes of a double with Field Of Gold and Ombudsman is the two most valuable races on the card, while Balding has several runners with a chance including Kalpana, the favourite for the Fillies & Mares race at 2.45pm.
This is arguably the first Champions Day that lives up to the billing as envisaged when the card was launched back in 2011 (when only the Champion Stakes and the QEII had Group One status). All seven races this afternoon will be live on ITV Racing, and you can dual-screen to your heart’s content with our liveblog, which will carry all the news, views, betting moves and results until the last runner in the Balmoral Handicap is back in its box.
