A press release has just hit my inbox outlining the details for Champions Day in October: QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS DAY RACE PROGRAMME ANNOUNCED The five Group races on QIPCO British Champions Day, the richest day in British racing history at Ascot on Saturday 15 October, will be run in prize money order, building up to the two headline contests at the end. Following the £200,000 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup (race 1, 1.50pm*), the £250,000 QIPCO British Champions Sprint (race 2, 2.25pm*) and the £250,000 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares (race 3, 3pm*), the tension will mount ahead of the richest mile race ever run in Europe, the £1 million Queen Elizabeth II Stakes sponsored by QIPCO (race 4, 3.35pm*), and the richest race ever run in Britain, the £1.3 million QIPCO Champion Stakes (race 5, 4.10pm*). All five races will be shown live in a special three-hour programme dedicated to coverage of the sparkling new £3 million finale to the British Flat racing season and the climax of the inaugural QIPCO British Champions Series. The broadcast is currently scheduled to start on BBC 2 at 1.30pm before switching to BBC 1 at 2.15pm and finishing ahead of Final Score at 4.30pm. The sixth and final race on the card will be the £25,000 QIPCO Future Stars Apprenticesâ Handicap (Class 2, 81-100 ratings band) at 4.45pm, the richest race for apprentice jockeys in this country, which will provide a fantastic opportunity for the aspiring British champions of the future to demonstrate their skills in the saddle on the highest profile raceday of the year. This will ensure that the professional jockeys who won the big races and the rider crowned top jockey of the QIPCO British Champions Series can concentrate on a major press conference and print and broadcast media interviews following the running of the QIPCO Champion Stakes. âUnlike many racedays, when the big race is often in the middle of the card, it has always been our plan to build up to the two biggest races as the climax to this spectacular race progamme,â said Rod Street, Chief Executive of British Champions Series Ltd. âThis should provide the best possible experience for our racegoers and for TV viewers on the BBC, Racing UK, At The Races and on foreign channels taking the broadcast all over the world. âStaging the countryâs most valuable apprenticesâ race to close the card will give the future stars of our sport the chance to share some of the limelight on QIPCO British Champions Day whilst allowing the professional jockeys to meet all media commitments at the end of this ground-breaking new day.â Kevin Darley, Chief Executive of the Professional Jockeysâ Association, commented: âAdding the richest apprentice race in Europe to the inaugural QIPCO British Champions Day is an excellent innovation. âIt is fantastic that QIPCO are willing to support our stars of the future by providing them with a platform to shine on such a prestigious day.â Tickets for QIPCO British Champions Day are priced at £45 for Premier admission and £26 for Grandstand admission, with a 10% advance booking discount available and greater reductions for group bookings of 10 or more people. Under 18s will be admitted free. To book tickets, visit www.britishchampionsseries.com / www.ascot.co.uk or call Ascot on 0870 727 1234. QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS DAY RACE PROGRAMME 1.50* £200,000 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup (Group 3 #) 2 miles (round course) 2.25* £250,000 QIPCO British Champions Sprint (Group 2 #) 6 furlongs (straight course) 3.00* £250,000 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares (Group 2 #) 1 mile 4 furlongs (round course) 3.35* £1,000,000 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes sponsored by QIPCO (British Champions Mile) (Group 1) 1 mile (straight course) 4.10* £1,300,000 QIPCO Champion Stakes (British Champions Middle Distance) (Group 1) 1 mile 2 furlongs (round course) 4.45* £25,000 QIPCO Future Stars Apprentices Handicap 7 furlongs (straight course) * race times are provisional and may be subject to minor alteration # the two Group 2 races and one Group 3 contest are Group 1 races in all but name â there are no penalties to be carried by Group race winners and they have a Group 1 level of prize money
Typical of British racing, Group 1s in all but name. Tell that to the breeders!!! A group 3 is a group 3.
Nassau - surely the only way we'll be able to tell how succesful, or otherwise, it may be will be what level of support it attarcts form the owners and trainers. You said earlier that JG was talking of this as a traget for Nathaniel and you'd imagine that Canford and Frankel might go there in the absence of anything better on offer so you never know. I'm opposed to the concept in principle but it will be intersting to see how it pans out.
Chippy, the two big races will be fine, but its the other ones. If you want to compete with the Breeders Cup you need to give Group 1 prizes and the prestige that gives to the breeding fraternity. At the moment we have very few good Group 1 races for the stayers and this would seem a great opportunity to get them an end of season UK target. The problem isn't that they are doing the meeting, its the fact they haven't given group one titles to the sprint and stayers race.
The day will never compete with Breeders' Cup on financial terms - the two day BC meeting has over $25million on offer. They would have been far better off investing the money in Royal Ascot. It is already a world-renowned meeting and no one can compete with the global attention it receives.
I would think if Frankel goes there still unbeaten then his mile race will rather overshadow the Champion Stakes. i am yet to be convinced that this day is a good idea. the big meetings either side of this new day are Arc Day and Breeders Cup Day. Surely the genuine superstars are going to aim for them rather than another day in what could be a chilly Ascot by then. put it this way if Ascot can only get barely 30,000 for the biggest meeting away from Royal Ascot (the King George meeting that we have just seen this weekend at the height of summer) then how many people do they expect are going to turn up in mid October???
princess newmarket - just seen your comment and you are spot on. Ascot already has "its week" just make that bigger and accept that you cant recreate that at another time of the year
Steveo - doubtless the attendance will be dependent on which band they have on after the racing's finished. I wonder which Z list celebrity they'll use to advertise the whole bunfight - perish the thoguht they let the racing speak for itself eh?
By the middle of October, I see no prospect of there being fast ground at Ascot so scratch Canford Cliffs from calculations. With the Coolmore connection this year, he could well be heading for the Breeders’ Cup Mile, whether Richard Hannon likes it or not. The Sussex Stakes might be his last run this season over here. If Frankel scares off all the decent older milers as well as the three-year-olds, the Champions Mile may be a complete anticlimax. That is assuming that they do not decide to give ten furlongs a go and run in the Champion Stakes. There is no realistic prospect of new Group 1 stayers’ races being created as generally speaking the stayers’ races these days seem to be contested by National Hunt horses with nothing better to do during the summer months. It is not just the attendance for this fixture that should be considered but also how many go to Newmarket for their new Future Champions day. Add the two together and will they eclipse last year’s numbers?
Coolmore coughed up to pay the "Open Enrollment" fee for Breeders' Cup for Canford Cliffs, though it is possible it was just an insurance policy - better to pay out $25,000 now and not need it than to find out you need to pay $100,000 in October!
A ridiculous concept. Soft ground, far too late in the season, most horses will have run in the Arc or will be kept for the Breeders Cup. I'm assuming that races like the supposed "Champions Long Distance Cup" will see previous Group One winners having to shoulder a penalty so how on earth can it be a champions' race? They've ruined the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes by moving it to the middle of October and to make matters worse, the Middle Park and Dewhurst Stakes will now be run on the same card at Newmarket as a direct result of this silly idea at Ascot. This is what happens when you throw a few million quid at a bunch of incompetents at Racing For Change and they then feel the need to justify their existence.
Chance as PN has at the bottom of original post they will carry no penalty. Also if you were getting good ground anywhere in the UK it would be Ascot, best drainage of all tracks.
Sorry Nassau, I didn't see that. The red mist was already rising, it's like a Pavlovian response every time I hear the Ascot Champions Day being mentioned! lol. I wouldn't be against it in theory, it's just that the middle of October isn't the right time to have a racemeeting like that. It would be like running the Cheltenham Festival in July. I also don't think it makes any sense to run the QEII and Champion Stakes on the same card. Let's hope we get decent ground for it but the chances are that with softish ground and a lot of horses probably not being at their best, I can foresee this meeting being a bookies' benefit.
Within 5 years they want to have all 5 Group races as G1s, bit they can't just promote a race to G1 level, they need to prove that the very best want to run in that race. That's why at the moment only the 2 established races are G1s. Wasn't the Dewhurst supposed to have gone to Ascot with the Champion Stakes?
They have formed Future Champions Day at Newmarket (to compensate for losing the Champion Stakes), which will see the Dewhurst and Middle Park run on the same day - bonkers!
Thanks for this post Princess, very informative as usual and nice to have you here. It's also made me think of a possible new competition. What is the best idea Racing for Change has come up with? Then I thought, "What's the point"
That's just ridiculous, why would you have a 6 and a 7f G1 for 2yo colts on the same day. I assume the Chevely Park will be run that day aswell
I haven't picked out anything original WF, but get up early and back Fiorente and Strong Suit. Fiorente is like printing money, whilst Strong Suit should win his race aswell
