- QIPCO British Champions Day: Best bet, each-way selection and treble
- Recommended bets include:
- Almeric to win the Qipco Champion Stakes
- King Cuan each-way in the Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes
QIPCO British Champions Day takes place at Ascot on Saturday afternoon, with a stunning sequence of five Group 1 races in prospect, culminating in a mouthwatering Champion Stakes (4.05pm) that will see old foes Ombudsman and Delacroix complete their trilogy of battles for the season.
Here is everything you need to know including the day's best bets.
QIPCO British Champions Day – Key info
First race: 12:55pm British Champions Long Distance Cup (Group 1)
Feature race: 4.05pm QIPCO Champion Stakes (Group 1)
There are no less than five Group 1s on the Champions Day card at Ascot, including the Fillies & Mares Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes before the Champion Stakes itself.
Best bet of the day
Almeric to win the Champion Stakes (4.05pm) @ 16/1
The Champion Stakes is being billed as a three-way go between Ombudsman, Delacroix and Calandagan.
They are proven stars, for sure, but Andrew Balding's Almeric could be fast-tracking his way to their level and looks a generous price to play a big role here.
The Study Of Man colt has won three of his four career starts and really impressed in last month's Doonside Cup win at Ayr as he left five rivals trailing in at wide intervals behind him.
He has plenty of scope for better still and fully merits his crack at the big time.
Best each-way bet of the day
King Cuan each-way in the Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes (2.05pm) @ 16/1
The Group 1 Champions Spring is wide open. Lazzat won over track and trip in the summer at the Royal meeting and that form is the best on offer but he was beaten in the Sprint Cup at Haydock by Big Mojo last time.
That result suggests this division lacks a dominant force.
King Cuan was inched out by Art Power, a former winner of this race, at the Curragh last month and Paddy Twomey's improving four-year-old was possibly a little unlucky in that contest.
He's still got some scope for better and should outrun his odds in an open heat.
Champions Day acca
We're providing an accumulator suggestion for British Champions Day at Ascot and our treble pays 8.66/1 with LiveScore Bet.
Bet 1: Trawlerman to win the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup (12.55pm) @ 1/2
A seven-length winner of the Ascot Gold Cup here in June, John & Thady Gosden's star won this race in 2023 and was third last year behind Kyprios. It appears to be his for the taking after his Lonsdale Cup win at York in August.
This progressive Godolphin-owned youngster has won all three starts since his Newbury debut in May, most recently taking the Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes back there in September. He sets a tall standard.
Bet 3: Kalpana to win the Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes (2.45pm) @ 5/2
Andrew Balding's Kalpana defends the crown in this Group 1. She was much the best on soft ground then and ran a big race on good when second to Calandagan in the King George over C&D this summer.
She's back against her own sex, in first-time cheekpieces and should be hard to stop after a solid Arc effort last time.
