QIPCO Champion Stakes: guide to all the possible runners

Was it really 11 years ago that Frankel signed off his flawless career with victory in the QIPCO Champion Stakes? It still seems like only yesterday that he made us all gasp when falling out of the stalls before moving through the gears and making the stands shake.

The titan of the turf was a one-off, an equine freak, but he’s doing his best to cast other horses in his image. Cracksman was among his first crop of yearlings and won successive renewals of the race, in 2017 and 2018, by an aggregate of 13 lengths. This year, Frankel could be represented by Mostahdaf and Nashwa, both trained by John and Thady Gosden.

The £1.3 million contest is Europe’s most valuable mile-and-a-quarter race and, since the first Champions Day in 2011, it has paid to focus on the highest-rated contenders. The top-rated horse has won on four occasions courtesy of Frankel, Farhh, Almanzor and Magical, while the second highest-rated runner has triumphed as many times via Fascinating Rock, Cracksman (twice) and Addeybb.

Only twice has the winner been rated below 120. The ratings of the victors have been 125, 140, 124, 117, 120, 127, 122, 125, 122, 122, 117 and 120.

There have been three occasions when the highest-rated runner has beaten the second-highest (2012, 2013 and 2016) and another where those tables were turned (2018). When Frankel won in 2012, the field of six finished in the exact order their ratings suggested they would.

Baeed (rated 135 in 2022); Crystal Ocean (129 in 2018) and Nathaniel (128 in 2011) have been high-rated runners who have returned home to their respective Newmarket stables defeated. Baeed was simply below his imperious best; Crystal Ocean had the misfortune to bump into a relentless Cracksman, who had been rated 130 earlier in the summer, while Nathaniel was probably involved in the greatest race run at Champions Day in terms of the overall quality on offer.

Older horses have held sway with only five of the Classic generation taking part finishing first or second. French-trained runners have a great record, with three of their 13 challengers winning, and another trio being second.

Overall, seven of the winners had won their previous race - four of them in Group One company - while Cracksman had finished runner-up in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes. Here’s a guide to all the possible runners. There is also a supplementary entry stage on Monday week. Official ratings and Timeform ratings correct at time of publishing (October 9) but subject to change.

���� BAY BRIDGE

Official rating: 121. Timeform rating: 132. Best odds: 11-2.

Took advantage of Baaeed fluffing his lines when winning last year's renewal, when fresh and enjoying the softish conditions. He’s been unable to add to his tally this year, at least on turf, not convincing with his stamina when sixth in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe last time. The drop back in trip will suit but this is a stronger renewal than 12 months ago and it may well take place on a better surface.

���� DUBAI HONOUR

Official rating: 120. Timeform rating: 133. Odds: 33-1.

Beat all bar Sealiway in this contest two years ago but was only sixth 12 months ago. Won back-to-back Group One prizes in Australia at the start of the year, making the most of good opportunities, but was weak in the market and surrendered tamely when last of four finishers in the Eclipse last time out. Easy enough to look elsewhere.

���� EREVANN

Official rating: 119. Timeform rating: 125. Odds: 66-1.

He’s done most of his racing over a mile, coming up short at the highest level. Showed this trip is within his range when third to Horizon Dore in the Prix Dollar Longchamp but faces no easy task turning the tables on the winner, let alone anything else. He’s also engaged in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.

���� LUXEMBOURG

Official rating: 122. Timeform rating: 134. Odds: 8-1.

Aidan O’Brien has run 22 colts/entire horses in the Champion Stakes, but none have won. Could Luxembourg put the record straight? He made a bold bid to retain his Irish Champion Stakes crown last time, beating all bar stablemate Auguste Rodin, but it’s not easy to forget how Mostahdaf brushed him aside by four lengths in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes over course and distance in June. Softer ground, if it materialises, might perhaps put a different slant on things in the rematch.

���� MOSTAHDAF

Official rating: 128. Timeform rating: 136. Odds: 4-1.

He’s going to be the highest-rated horse in action on Champions Day (has a mark of 128) and nobody can quibble with that after his dazzling four-length defeat of Luxembourg at Royal Ascot, which he followed with an all-the-way win in the Juddmonte International, at York, when fending off Nashwa and Paddington. His tactical versatility, coupled with his form claims, make him an outstanding candidate. He’s suited by a sound surface, but the son of Frankel is also proven on slower tops.

���� MY PROSPERO

Official rating: 119. Timeform rating: 126+. Odds: 16-1.

Upped his game when beaten half a length i to third in last year’s renewal and there remains a sense of unfinished about him, for all that he was a well-beaten fourth behind Mostahdaf at Royal Ascot. Made hard work of what looked a straightforward task at Salisbury last time, and no surprise if connections equip him with some form of headgear. He’s got a bigger performance in him needs it. A year on from Baaeed hogging all the pre-race headlines, and blowing out, it would be rather ironic if the stable won with a horse who has barely merited a column inch.

���� ONESTO

Official rating: 120. Timeform rating: 135. Odds: 20-1.

He's been winless since his victory in last year’s group One Grand Prix de Paris, but he made Luxembourg pull out all the stops in the Irish Champion Stakes later that season and ran a blinder when third in the Arc on his latest start. That puts him in the picture, but his connections have said he will instead be heading to the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

���� POINT LONSDALE

Official rating: 115. Timeform rating: 127. Odds: xxx.

Looked bound for the top after winning his first four races as a two-year-old but he made it to the track only once last season, when failing to make an impact in the 2000 Guineas, and his star has slipped further this year, despite a couple of pattern victories. He was deployed as a pacemaker in the King George but couldn’t get to the front in the Irish Champion last time, when presumably that was again the intention. Acts well in the mud.

���� SKALLETI

Official rating: 120. Timeform rating: 122. Odds: 100-1.

The veteran French raider has a fine wins-to-runs ratio and chased home Addeybb in the 2020 renewal but, now 8, his window has surely passed. Finished a well-beaten third to Nations Pride in a German Group One on his latest start.

���� NASHWA

Official rating: 121. Timeform rating: 134. Odds: 16-1.

She’s a fabulous mare who has shown herself to be among the best ten-furlong horses in training, but connections have suggested she will drop to a mile and instead head for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes earlier on the card. If the ground is somewhere near good, I wonder if they will keep her over the longer trip, not least because her form suggests she must go close. She got to within a length of Mostahdaf in the International and finished best of all when beaten half a length in the Irish Champion last time. All ground seems to come alike to her.

���� VIA SISTINA

Official rating: 116. Timeform rating: 131. Odds: 12-1.

George Boughey faces something of a quandary. Does he let his Group One-winning stable star take on the boys in this race, over what is probably her optimum trip, or does he let her stick to taking on her own sex in the Fillies & Mares, in what will be a lesser race in terms of value, prestige and competition, but over a trip which she is unproven? The ground may help determine which way he turns. I’ve little doubt he would go for gold in this contest if she were certain to get the muddy conditions she revels in, but goodish going may make him more inclined to step her up in trip. Given deep conditions, it would be folly to underestimate her, even though there hasn’t been a Champion Stakes winner at Ascot rated below 117. She’s on 116.

���� CONTINUOUS

Official rating: 121. Timeform rating: 131. Odds: 25-1.

The St Leger winner also ran well when fifth in the Arc, but there’s no hint from Ballydoyle that he will drop further in trip and turn up for this gig.

���� HORIZON DORE

Official rating: --. Timeform rating: 129. Odds: 3-1.

There have been three French-trained winners of the Champion Stakes since the first Champions Day, in 2011, and, like the first of them, Cirrus Des Aigles, Horizon Dore will head to Ascot without a Group One winner on his CV. He’s never even run at the highest level, although, as a three-year-old gelding, he has had less opportunities than others. Few would dispute that he’s looked a horse capable of holding his own at the top table, with his win from off the pace in the Prix Dollar last time being very slick. However, he will be in deeper waters and it’s puzzling that he heads the market. Perhaps that reflects that he’s a definite runner, whereas other have caveats hanging over them.

���� KING OF STEEL

Official rating: 121. Timeform rating: 132. Odds: 5-1.

Cracksman won his first Champion Stakes after going close in the Derby earlier in the year, and King Of Steel bids to follow suit. He’s since taken a completely different path to the last two-time winner of the race, making the frame in the King George and Irish Champion Stakes after landing the King Edward VII Stakes here at Ascot. Kevin Stott came in for criticism for his ride at Leopardstown last time – and ended up being told his services were no longer required by the owner 48 hours later – but in no way could the imposing colt be described as an unlucky loser. For instance, Nashwa came from further back and passed him to grab third. King Of Steel’s odds have shrunk since it was revealed Frankie Dettori would be riding him, but he’s had a longish year (which started with him being a late non-runner in the Dante and a subsequent stalls test having to be passed) and I’m still convinced we will not see the best of him until next season.

���� PADDINGTON

Official rating: 125. Timeform rating: 134. Odds: 16-1.

Aidan O’Brien has said he is being aimed at the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. If there were to be a late switch (perhaps Luxembourg being unexpectedly ruled out?) he’d obviously have to come into the reckoning, given he’s reeled off four successive Group One wins before finishing a close third behind Mostahdaf and Nashwa in the Juddmonte International. My one reservation would be his busy schedule, which was offered as an excuse for his reverse last time out.

���� ROYAL RHYME

Official rating: 113. Timeform rating: 130. Odds: 18-1.

I must confess to having a sneaky ante-post nibble on him at outlandish odds before he won a Listed contest at Hamilton last time, but that was in the hope of bottomless ground – he’s clearly in his element on soft going - and the race possibly cutting up. However, conditions seem unlikely to be too bad (based on the weather forecast) and there looks like being plenty of depth to the race, so the predicted sums no longer add up! Addeybb won the same Hamilton contest before his victory in this race but Royal Rhyme’s official rating of 113 sums him up, and points to him needing to find a big chunk of improvement.

ANDY’S VERDICT

To follow after final declarations on Thursday week.