SD's Racing Ramble: My take on British Champions Day

In the latest edition of his Racing Ramble column, exclusive to Odds Now, SD takes a look back at last weekend's dramatic climax to the British flat season.

They came in their droves to Champions Day to watch.

It must be said that Ascot did a bloody good job of getting people to deepest Berkshire on Saturday. £27 to see a card festooned with quality represented good value. For comparison, all other racecourse were within £10 of this figure who raced on Saturday. Ascot are without rival in terms of marketing strategy and other tracks should take heed.

Having seen Bosra Sham win the Champion and witnessed every other Champions Day at HQ, I preferred it there, but I must conclude your correspondent was not the target audience here. This is no bad thing, and I have nothing but praise for the show Ascot put on.

On the track though, balances need to be struck.

Plenty of surprises

We started with the Long Distance race. Trawlerman ridden to advantage and perhaps Sweet William not, but the latter is not straightforward and it is impossible to conclude that a distinctly average ride would have affected the result. Scandinavia surely presents an increased challenge for both in 2026.

The second race, the new conditions race, was rather a blot on the landscape. The working wisdom of Champions Day lacking a two year old race is counterbalanced by what was a wholly forgettable affair.

It requires a rethink in terms of its position and the adage of “less is more” is pertinent. I highly doubt Mission Central takes high rank in his all-conquering stable. Any new race should be commensurate with the pattern. This was anything but.

The sprint produced a 200/1 surprise in Powerful Glory. He was unbackable – finishing last of five behind an 82-rated rival and giving him just 4lbs at Beverley last time after wind surgery and a break and it is easy to crab the form.

The fact of the matter is that there is no standout sprinter at present and the current crop is mediocre. In terms of track position and time, there is nothing anomalous about the performance, for all the caveats outlined.

The Fillies and Mares was basically Kalpana first and the rest nowhere. She was given a lovely ride by Colin Keane (for whom criticism has been a little melodramatic this year) and is much the best against her own sex at this sort of trip. She lacks a killer blow in open sex company and it remains to be seen if she is kept in training.

The QEII did me, I'll admit.

Ciceros Gift was on paper a Group 3 performer at best and a pretty exposed one at that. Those with the two lowest draws dominated the finish, with Field of Gold some margin below his best.

Rosallion seems to be going the wrong way, the confidence of his trainer seemingly misplaced. The result smacked of a race suffering which was switched from September following this days inception to today. Running the race on the round course may reduce baffling results going forward.

The Champion Stakes offered a more cogent form footing. Calandagan showed what a classy and likeable horse he is with Ombudsman proving the best of the UK trained contingent. Almaqam produced a personal best on figures and it is hard to concur with connections' assessment that he must have soft ground.

Crown Of Oaks did a solo along the stand side winning the Balmoral, again demonstrating the unpredictable nature of the straight course. Holloway Boy presumably heads to warmer climbs this winter, but Ebts Guard again showed he is a progressive handicapper in third. It wouldn’t take a lot of improvement for him to make a mark in pattern company.

Action required

To me, the day clearly identified the results that lack reasoning on the straight course and it is high time the issue was addressed as the only logical explanation lies with the agronomy of the track.

Ascot is a fantastic amphitheatre for racing but its straight course surface does not back this up. A QEII on the round course, as a minimum, is suggested but the seeming randomness of results from oscillating track positioning may be a question racing needs to answer.

History tells us it won’t.

You can catch more of SD's racing insight over on the Races Now YouTube channel.