Ascot racecourse will open its doors for the final time in the 2025 flat season, as its hallowed turf stages British Champions Day.
In just under three weeks, the eyes of the racing world will hone in on Berkshire for a day that will see champions crowned and over £4m awarded in prize money.
It is Britain’s richest race day and will welcome racing’s elite from across the UK, Ireland and beyond for the final prestigious meeting of the flat season.
The day will also see the culmination of the British Champions Series, which sees the crowning of the Champion Jockey, Champion Apprentice, Champion Trainer and Champion Owner of each year.
Five of the seven races are Group One contests, with the other two made up of a one mile Handicap and a brand new race for two-year-old horses.
As the sun sets on another flat season, here is everything that you need to know about British Champions Day.
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When is British Champions Day?
The aforementioned race for two-year-olds kicks off the card on Saturday, October 18.
Due off at 12:55, it precedes the running of the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup – a race in which horses will see their stamina tested in a bid to win a share of prize money worth £500,000.
Next comes the Qipco British Champion Sprint Stakes – ran over a straight six furlongs – followed by the Qipco British Champion Fillies and Mares Stakes – which runs over 1.5 miles.
They are each worth £500,000 in prize money and serve as the perfect appetiser for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, running over the straight mile and awarding £1.1m.
The Balmoral Handicap closes the show, but not before the running of the Qipco British Champions Stakes.
Awarding £1.3m in prize money, this race is the headlining contest of the day and will see this season’s elite horses go head-to-head one final time; it is due off at 16:05.
Trainers to watch
Irishman Aidan O’Brien remains well out in front of the competition at the head of the British Trainers Championship, as he bids to become Champion Trainer for the eighth time.
His Ballydoyle/Coolmore Stud operation have enjoyed another season in which they have taken feature events in festivals across the UK, Ireland and further afield.
Wherever his horses go, they are obviously of note, though despite training five winners at the course this campaign, this season saw O’Brien go without a Group One winner at Royal Ascot for the first time in two decades.
One such trainer who had no issues at the Royal meeting was joint father/son duo John and Thady Gosden.
Stable-stars Field Of Gold and Ombudsman both took showpiece events back in July – contributing to the eight course-winners trained by the Gosdens this year – with the latter resuming his head-to-head battle with O’Brien’s Delacroix in subsequent races.
Both are likely to be in action in mid-October for a yard that has accumulated just under £6m in prize money, enough to see them sit third in the Trainers Championship Standings.
Chasing the leaders
Andrew Balding is around £200,000 ahead of the Gosdens, having enjoyed a season in which he has trained 169 winners.
He will be keen to ensure that the gap doesn’t close between now and the end of the Championship at the end of the year.
Balding has trained seven winners at Ascot this season, which gives him a strike rate of 11% – bettered by O’Brien’s 15% and the Gosdens’ 19% – but all three succumb to both Charlie Appleby and William Haggas.
The former has trained the same amount of winners as Balding but has done so with 33 fewer runners, whilst the latter has – like the Gosdens – trained eight course-winners this year.
Appleby boasts a 25% win rate at Ascot this season, with Haggas following after recording a respectable 23%.
The latter is in flying form at the moment too, seeing 10 of his last 14 horses place – four of which were winners.
Appleby, meanwhile, will continue his role in training Godolphin-owned horses, which is a partnership that has birthed winners globally this season.
Events in Canada, the Middle East, and on continental Europe have seen Appleby-trained, Godolphin-owned horses take victory, conveying the strength of his yard.
He sits fourth in the Trainers Championship, with Haggas fifth, followed by Ralph Beckett, Karl Burke and Richard Hannon.
Jockeys to watch
The Ballydoyle saddle will once again be open to more jockeys than normal, with first-choice star Ryan Moore continuing his absence through injury.
Understudy Wayne Lordan is sure to pick up some highlighting rides for O’Brien, though it was Belgian Christophe Soumillon who deputised for the pair of them at Doncaster and The Curragh.
Both the St Leger meeting and the Irish Champions Festival saw O’Brien go without his two frontmen, with Lordan serving a suspension, whilst Soumillon made headlines with a stellar ride on board Delacroix to win the Irish Champion Stakes.
He seems set to play another huge part in O’Brien’s chances at the meeting, but it will likely pay dividends to follow William Buick or Oisin Murphy.
Both have ridden eight winners at Ascot this year, whilst enduring their fair share of criticism and controversy.
Buick’s ride on Ombudsman, in the Coral-Eclipse, came under major scrutiny, whilst Murphy’s personal life has clouded a season in which he sits at the top of the British Jockey Championship.
The Irishman saw himself charged with drink driving earlier this campaign, but remains in search of winning his fifth Champion Jockey title.
Other jockeys in form
Billy Loughnane follows Murphy in the Jockey standings, having ridden 94 winners this campaign, as he continues to make a name for himself.
He sits ahead of Rossa Ryan, who is in fine form right now after winning 20% of his last 35 rides, and Ciaron Fallon – both men have ridden 80 winners this season.
Tom Marquand follows in fifth, with 76 winners, whilst Buick leads the in-form Daniel Tudhope, winner of 24% of his last 25 rides.
Owner Wathnan’s retained rider James Doyle, alongside David Probert have ridden five winners at Ascot this year – showing their course form, but neither sit within the top 10 of the Jockey Championship.
How to watch British Champions Day?
ITV will broadcast the action live and for free, on terrestrial TV, via their ITV Racing programme.
Sky Sports Racing (Sky channel 415) will all racing live for their subscribers.
READ MORE: British Champions Day: Champions Stakes analysis and preview
