British Champions Day 2014

Anyone going to BCD let me know as I will be race making so can meet for a beer or two after my duties;

Also the main 2 races are as open as I can remember pretty much no certain entries! This time last yr I had emptied my satchel on Farrh but hve laid a penny on any as the runners could go anywhere so if any one has any ideas of who and where please let me know

 

We can be pretty sure who we expect to show up on Champions’ Day, but which races they contest is starting to look a conundrum that will not be answered until nearer the day when we have an idea about the going. So I cannot see myself risking the ante post until a few days before if at all.

If the ante post market is anything to go by the Champion Stakes will feature over-hyped Australia, lightly-raced Free Eagle and the seasoned veteran Cirrus Des Aigles. Whilst the French star may not be as good as he used to be, on the ratings he is still the one to beat. Whilst I am not writing off The Grey Gatsby, I think there are quite a few ponderables between him and victory.

It is almost impossible to determine who is going to show up for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes although unfortunately Kingman will be absent. I still like Charm Spirit if he ventures over from France as he has shown good progress in his last three races and is peaking at the right time of the year. Will Toronado get his ground? Is Karakontie being prepared for a trip to the Breeders’ Cup or could the Poulains winner be an each-way steal? The ground may see Australia re-routed here – that seems to be the big talking point right now.

Whilst G Force is currently favourite for the Sprint, it is anybody’s guess who will show up and we could be sticking a pin in the racecard on the day.

As I face a forty-minute train followed by a three-hour drive home, BCD beers will be limited to one or two at most.

 

With Australia now scratched, Champions’ Day is beginning to look like a French takeaway.

The ground will surely be on the slow side, so there are no grounds for thinking that Toronado will reverse Longchamp form with Charm Spirit in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. Will Olympic Glory turn out?

Can The Grey Gatsby keep the Champion Stakes at home? Or will it be going to France with Cirrus Des Aigles or Ireland with Free Eagle?

 

I'll be there again this year. I was all over Farhh last year also, this year however i have no such confidence on anything! Hoping Free Eagle can back up his last run and win the champions stakes. He looked a monster last time, however he also did on debut and then didnt fire next time

 

I'm all over Free Eagle ante-post at 7/2. Absolute gift from the gods.

 

I've already backed Cirrus Des Aigles and will be topping up on the day, will probably be my biggest bet of the year, can't be having Free Eagle at all.

 

I can not understand why they seem hesitant to run Olympic Glory? won the race at a canter last year and for me especially with the soft ground would do the same again this year, yet it looks like Night of Thunder and Toranado will run, neither of whom are as good as Olympic Glory imo, makes no sense at all.

 

With the torrential rain that has hit the South East, the ground at Ascot is now reported as heavy; and with more rain forecast through until Thursday, there has to be a doubt about Champions’ Day being on.

If I did not have an advance ticket, I would not even be considering going as according to Cornelius Lysaght’s Twitter feed, The Grey Gatsby will not be there, diminishing the appeal of this year’s event even more.

Another great success story from Racing For Change. Somebody should be taken out and shot for cannibalising the old fixture list to create a Championship too late in the season.

 

Well, there is a reason why Cheltenham starts their season at this point of the year.

 

Reckon Al Kazeem will do Cirrus De Aigles, whether he does free eagle is another matter though

 

I would have been keen on Noble Mission but it's no longer at a back able price with all the withdrawls

 

For me it was a bad idea to start with. The turnout looks likely to be sub par. Why introduce a British Championship around the same time as the Breeders Cup and Arc weekend? Doesn't make sense to me.

 

Well it all makes sense to me - Racing For Change

 

This so called " Champions Day " has fallen apart... I wont name all the horses that are missing but for all that money and so called prestige on offer it has to be said that the potential/quality of the fields in the major races is shocking..... The racing authorities knew this could potentially happen when they decided on the dates for this meeting given whether conditions. Having got away with it for the last couple of years it was only a matter time that this has/was seriously come back to bite them in the you know what!!!!!

Looking at the fields who can seriously call themselves a "Champion" in there division???

 

Astounded Olympic Glory is not running, would of won that race at a canter, its almost as if they do not want him to win the race for some reason, maybe they are more bothered about Toronado or Night of Thunder getting another group one and do not want Olympic Glory beating them?

 

There was an article in ‘The Guardian’ yesterday pretty much agreeing with you. It rubbished the entire fixture saying geldings apart the meeting will from now on only ever attract those not good enough to run at their the Arc or Breeders Cup fixture.

I think British Champions Day can be summed up in comparison to these fixtures like this. The Arc Executive and the Breeders Cup board go out of their way to stage top class races for top class horses. All Ascot are interested in though are getting a Saxe-Coburg to come along to present a pot! For bally ‘eck make the meeting about horse racing and not something just for Royalists and the ‘marching and saluting’ brigade to salivate over as they ‘train spot’ minor Royalty.

I’ve quickly scanned the entries and the ‘Sprint’ affair looks full of plodding handicappers, the fillies and mares full of Listed class animals (although a plus is that some do have lovely names), the 2 feature races amazingly substandard for the money and the £250,000 handicap no different from a £20k handicap staged most weekends!

 

great idea Oddy! I would love to see that meeting get an upgrade.

Racing has also yet to learn how to compete against other sports. The premier league returns this weekend and will attract all the attention.
does the casual sports fan even know that Champions Day exists? Maybe it would have a better chance to grab some attention LAST weekend when the only football making the news was England v San Marinio and Estonia.

the other really negative thing for me this year is that all of the 2 year old races are taking place all together on a Friday afternoon! That is utter bonkers. Who on earth thought that was a good idea??

 

Perhaps they could run this on the Tapeta at Wolverhampton instead. More likely to attract good overseas raiders too