Murphy needs to become a champion off the track too
This year’s Champions Day meeting was talked about as one of the best on paper for years and we certainly got a brilliant performance from Baaeed to keep his unbeaten record and hold off the high-class Palace Pier in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. The winner is not going to the Breeders’ Cup which would have been an obvious temptation and there is plenty to look forward to with this superb miler next season.
However, most of the talk has been about jockeys with Baaeed’s rider Jim Crowley bagging a treble on the day, champion jockey Oisin Murphy confirming his title for a third successive time after a hard-fought battle with William Buick and Frankie Dettori, still for so many the face of the sport, having a torrid day by his high standards. Murphy is already a hot favourite to win a fourth title and if he does he would be become the first jockey since Pat Eddery (1988-91) to do so, and only the second to complete the feat in 53 years.
There has been talk of the Irishman stepping into the riding boots of Dettori and certainly Murphy has courted the limelight with his social media posts and his willingness to talk to the media since he burst onto the scene. But Murphy has clearly had major issues off the track with a highly publicised cocaine ban followed this week by a second breath test failure. He has plenty of time before next season to start to tackle those issues and it’s clear David Redvers, racing and bloodstock advisor to Murphy’s retainer Sheih Fahad al-Thani, is going to stick by him and provide some support. “We’re incredibly proud of him, he’s very much part of our family and whatever help Oisin needs, he’ll get,” said Redvers at Ascot today. Let’s hope, for the sake of a talented champion, that he gets that help.
Updated
Balmoral Handicap (4.30pm) result
1 Aldaary 7/2
2 Symbolize 40/1
3 Magical Morning 66/1
4 Nugget 9/1
Updated
Balmoral Handicap (4.30pm)
They’re off ... Marie’s Diamond makes a fast start ... Shelir now takes the lead with Matthew Flinders also prominent ... King Leonidas is there and Sunray Major starts to make a move ... Aldaary goes clear on the far side and Jim Crowley lands a Champions Day treble on the winner.
Updated
Balmoral Handicap (4.30pm) betting
- Sunray Major - 9/4
- Aldaary - 15/4
- King Leonidas - 7/1
- Nugget - 9/1
- Sir Busker - 10/1
- Escobar - 18/1
- Full betting here via Oddschecker.
Looking to next season Oisin Murphy is odds-on at 4/7 to retain the champion Flat jockeys’ title in 2022 according to the latest odds by Ladbrokes. William Buick is a close second favourite at 5/4, while Tom Marquand is their nearest rival at 16/1. Nicola McGeady of Ladbrokes said: “The betting suggests that the title race will have a similar narrative to this year. Oisin Murphy may be the favourite to retain the title, but we expect Buick to have plenty of supporters as well.”
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Balmoral Handicap (4.30pm) preview
The only handicap on the Champions Day card, and usually a chance for punters to either play up their winnings or get out of trouble with a bet on the jolly old favourite at a working person’s price. But not this year, as Sunray Major, the mount of Ascot’s favourite son Frankie Dettori, is no better than around 2-1 to beat 19 rivals and could be shorter still at the off if the heavy hitters really get stuck in. John and Thady Gosden’s colt has a 6lb penalty for a very easy win over seven furlongs here 15 days ago and looks likely to improve for the step up to a mile, but 2-1 is still pretty thin when Aldaary, the 5-1 second-favourite, arrives with a similar profile and King Leonidas, a stable companion of Sunray Major, was sixth in the Jersey at the 2020 Royal meeting and made a very promising – if belated – return to action in September. And there are also the Ascot regulars to consider, horses like Sir Busker and ESCOBAR that rarely seem to run a bad race over this track and trip. All in all, I’ll pass on the favourite and have a bit each-way on Escobar instead at around 20-1, as he has been in pretty good form all year and would be a huge runner if he could find something like the form that got him home by two lengths in this race in 2019 off a 1lb lower mark.
And Oisin Murphy is crowned champion ...
BREAKING: Oisin Murphy secures a third jockeys' championship after Sealiway wins the Qipco Champion Stakes for Mickael Barzalona and Cedric Rossi pic.twitter.com/Sd9eytCjL0
— Sky Sports Racing (@SkySportsRacing) October 16, 2021
Champion Stakes (3.50pm)
They’re off ... Addeybb leads early ... Adayar is close up in second ... Foxes Tales with Mishriff just behind them ... Adayar powers up to lead and go for home ... two lengths clear with Mishriff and Sealiway challenging ... Sealiway wins for France with Dubai Honour a gallant second.
Updated
Frankie Dettori has had a poor day and John Gosden, the trainer of Palace Pier, just said: “If Frankie was able to ride the race again [when second to Baaeed] he would have kicked on earlier and not kept looking round.”
John Gosden on Palace Pier:
— Racing Post (@RacingPost) October 16, 2021
"Frankie said the pace was slow. It was too slow. He regrets not committing earlier. There was too much looking around - and he knows that. The strongest likelihood is he will now go to stud." pic.twitter.com/BxWkIw7dLm
Adayar is ready for the big race
What a gorgeous horse ADAYAR is 😍
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) October 16, 2021
The Derby and King George winner will bid for his third Group One win of the season in the QIPCO Champion Stakes, live on Racing TV at 3.50pm! #ChampionsDay | @godolphin | @Ascot pic.twitter.com/R2INpdNbyJ
Champion Stakes (3.50pm) betting
Mishriff - 7/4
Adayar - 3/1
Dubai Honour - 13/2
Addeybb - 9/1
Sealiway - 12/1
Al Aasy - 14/1
Mac Swiney - 40/1
Full betting via Oddschecker here.
Champion Stakes (3.50pm) preview
The richest prize in British racing and a potentially decisive contest for Charlie Appleby in his bid to become champion trainer for the first time as Adayar, the Derby winner, goes to post as the 11-4 second-favourite behind John Gosden’s Mishriff (2-1). Adayar was nearly two lengths in front of Mishriff in the King George in July, but that was over 12 furlongs and the market seems to feel that Mishriff might just have the edge as they drop back to 10 furlongs, the trip over which he landed the International Stakes in August.
Like the QEII, though, this might not be the two-horse race that the betting implies, and I reckon DUBAI HONOUR and James Doyle might have a major role to play in the finish. Like Adayar, Dubai Honour was a runner at Longchamp two weekends ago, when he showed an impressive turn-of-foot on the rain-softened ground to win the Group Two Prix Dollar. Like his stable companion Baaeed, he is a work in progress, having notched his first win as a three-year-old in a handicap at Newmarket’s July meeting, but he has progressed with every start this year, does not need to find much more to take a hand in the finish and makes plenty of appeal at around 7-1.
Brilliant, unbeaten Baaeed was superb there again:
'He's just a beast, he just keeps on getting better!'
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) October 16, 2021
Jim Crowley on the unbeaten Baaeed #ITVRacing pic.twitter.com/CnFOOrsvGn
Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (3.10pm) result
1 Baaeed 2/1
2 Palace Pier 6/4f
3 Lady Bowthorpe 40/1
Baaeed is still unbeaten! 💨
— Sky Sports Racing (@SkySportsRacing) October 16, 2021
In a thrilling finish to the Group One 👑 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, Baaeed and @JimCrowley1978 edges out Palace Pier and @FrankieDettori! pic.twitter.com/2A7au0661q
Updated
Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (3.10pm)
They’re off ... Benbatl has the early lead at a steady pace ... The Revenant and Alcohol Free and Palace Pier just behind ... Baaeed is in fifth ... Palace Pier and Baaeed are unleashed ... Baaeed holds off Palace Pier in a great dual for the prize.
Updated
Would be something if Oisin Murphy wins the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Alcohol Free!
Jeff Smith's wonderful filly Alcohol Free takes her chance in today's QEII Stakes. We featured them at the end of last year - and Jeff spoke of a strange alcohol-free celebration after one of Persian Punch's legendary successes! https://t.co/mCZlNxSsZO
— The Owner Breeder (@TheOwnerBreeder) October 16, 2021
https://t.co/mCZlNxSsZO
Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (3.10pm) betting
Palace Pier - 7/4
Baaeed - 12/5
Alcohol Free - 11/1
The Revenant - 17/2
Masters Of The Sea - 12/1
Benbatl - 33/1
Mother Earth - 33/1
Full betting via Oddscheker here
Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (3.10pm) preview
The Champion Stakes is the richest race on the card but the QEII might just shade it in terms of quality this year, as the top-class four-year-old Palace Pier attempts to wrap up a slightly stop-start season with the sixth Group One win of his career. He arrives off the same preparation as last year, when he won the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville in August and then rocked up at Ascot as the odds-on favourite, only to finish a well-beaten third behind The Revenant, so perhaps the memory of that run still rankles with the punters, as he is 15-8 favourite this time around.
The ground was a lot worse last year too, of course, but the opposition is also much stronger this time around, most obviously with Baaeed attempting to extend his unbeaten career to six races after one of the most rapid rises from racecourse debut to Group One win in recent memory. William Haggas’s three-year-old is priced up at around 5-2, while another three-year-old, the filly, ALCOHOL FREE, also goes to post with a live chance. The Sussex Stakes winner can be backed at 8-1, which looks a very big price for a filly who also relished the uphill finish here on soft ground in the Coronation Stakes in June.
There’s some more fallout from the news that broke last night about champion jockey Oisin Murphy’s latest fall from grace and David Redvers, racing and bloodstock advisor to Sheih Fahad al-Thani, who retains Murphy for his Qatar Racing operation, spoke to Racing TV earlier about the pressures of defending the championship.
“Oisin’s really felt it this time, no question about it,” Redvers said. “He felt it at the end of last season as well, when he was over at the Breeders’ Cup and William was eating into his lead in dramatic fashion at the end and it’s been a really high-pressure, tense end to the season. Thank God it ends today and it doesn’t end in a few weeks’ time in Doncaster, because that would drag it out even more.
“Oisin’s a young man, we’ve known him since he was 17, since he was a boy really, and he’s still growing and developing as a man. Clearly, things have happened in the recent time that he has regrets about and will work hard to put right. I have no doubt that when the pressure of Champions Day is out of the way and he can breathe and regroup, that there will be changes made to his lifestyle and he’s going to look very hard at that.
“But nobody can have any idea what it’s like to be in that cauldron unless they’ve been there themselves. I spoke to Kevin Darley, who is part of our team and was champion jockey not that many years ago. He says that when he sat down at the end of his championship, he literally lost two days of his life because he was so exhausted, and he couldn’t remember what happened in that time.
“Obviously it’s disappointing for everybody that stories in the press have detracted from what is an absolutely unbelievable achievement, if he could win three championships on the bounce. We’re incredibly proud of him, he’s very much part of our family and whatever help Oisin needs, he’ll get.”
Champion Fillies & Mares Stakes (2.35pm) result
Updated
Champion Fillies & Mares Stakes (2.35pm)
They’re off ... Snowfall towards the rear early with Mystery Angel and La Joconde opening up a four-length lead ... La Joconde sent ahead into the lead with six furlongs to go ... Eshaada is prominent and Snowfall has ground to make ... here she comes ... Eshaada has the lead with Albaflora fighting hard but Eshaada holds on with the hot favourite Snowfall well beaten back in third.
Updated
It’s clear Frankie Dettori, who was riding Stradivarius, wasn’t happy with the young jockey on Baron Samedi in the opening event and the Italian said afterwards: “It was a disgrace. The kid [Dylan Browne McMonagle on Baron Samedi] in front of me did everything possible to get me beat.”
Champion Fillies & Mares Stakes (2.35pm) betting
Snowfall - 8/11
Albaflora - 5/1
Invite - 7/1
Eshaada - 16/1
Tribal Craft - 25/1
Full betting via Oddschecker here.
It’s getting close again after that win for William Buick in the British Champions Sprint Stakes ...
The gap is reduced to two in the Flat jockeys’ championship!
— Racing Post (@RacingPost) October 16, 2021
Oisin Murphy - 1️⃣5️⃣3️⃣
William Buick - 1️⃣5️⃣1️⃣ pic.twitter.com/GpBM2VuSDu
Updated
Champion Fillies & Mares Stakes (2.35pm) preview
SNOWFALL is expected to be the only odds-on favourite on the card, and while you might want more than a 13-day gap between races for a three-year-old filly, not least when the leaves are on the turn, she could run a pound or two below her very best form and still win this comfortably. Albaflora, the second-favourite, was four lengths adrift of Snowfall in the Yorkshire Oaks in August, and that was only after running on late when the winner was already easing down. Invite, from the title-chasing Andrew Balding yard, is a three-year-old on the up, but started her season three races ago in May in a handicap at Doncaster, racing off a mark of 80. She did, admittedly, win that race by 10 lengths, but still has a mountain to climb against Snowfall.
British Champions Sprint (2pm) result
1 Creative Force 11/2
2 Glen Shiel 22/1
3 Minzaal 16/1
Updated
British Champions Sprint (2pm)
They’re off ... Highfield Princess well away as they make a beeline for the far side ... Glen Shiel grabs the lead for Hollie Doyle ... Creative Force puts down the big challenge and wins from a brave Glen Shiel. William Buick is now only two behind in the jockeys’ title race with Oisin Murphy!
Updated
Was that race Stradivarius’ swansong?
A great reception for Stradivarius following his brave run in the Long Distance Cup @Ascot
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) October 16, 2021
Does retirement beckon for the star stayer?
John Gosden says it will be “at least a week” before a decision is made. #ChampionsDay | @FrankieDettori | @ChampionsSeries pic.twitter.com/gU3hBlIasn
British Champions Sprint (2pm) betting
- Art Power - 5/1
- Rohaan - 11/2
- Creative Force - 13/2
- Dragon Symbol - 7/1
- Kinross - 10/1
- Minzaal - 14/1
- Vadream - 20/1
- Full betting via Oddschecker here
Trueshan is 4-1 favourite for next year’s Gold Cup with Betfair after that victory while the messy race led to Frankie Dettori on third-placed Stradivarius to vent his spleen with the other jockeys. A very unhappy Frankie!
You can watch the race in full here:
TRUESHAN and Hollie Doyle take it again!
— Ascot Racecourse (@Ascot) October 16, 2021
Back-to-back winners of the QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup! 👑 pic.twitter.com/6L14G3yFeU
Updated
British Champions Sprint (2pm) preview
The presence of handicap blot Sunray Major in the last means that this year’s Champions Sprint is the most open and competitive contest on the card by some distance, with ART POWER, Rohaan (who won the Wokingham over course and distance in June), Creative Force and Dragon Symbol all priced up at single-figure odds.
There is a solid case to be made for all four, while last year’s winner, Glen Shiel, will also garner support at around 22-1, but the draw has been kind to front-running Art Power, as Silvestre de Sousa should be able to angle towards the near-side rail if he feels the need, and that (narrowly) tips the balance in his favour.
Updated
Champions Long Distance Cup (1.25pm)
They’re off ... The Mediterranean leads on a muddling early pace ... Trueshan is prominent with Stradivarius further back with only one behind him ... Master Of Reality has always been up there ... Roberto Escobarr is also prominent with Trueshan racing keenly ... Stradivarius tries to make ground but clashes with Baron Samedi ... a rough race with Trueshan making a move wide with Stradivarius ... but Trueshan leads and inside the final furlong Trueshan kicks clear for victory with Tashkhan running on for second.
Updated
Champions Long Distance Cup (1.25pm) betting
- Trueshan - 7/4
- Stradivarius - 4/1
- Hamish - 9/2
- Baron Samedi - 17/2
- Berkshire Rocco - 18/1
- The Mediterranean - 18/1
- Roberto Escobarr - 50/1
- Full betting via Oddschecker here
Here he comes! Stradivarius is in the house at @Ascot! pic.twitter.com/1I3iVURrSv
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) October 16, 2021
Champions Long Distance Cup (1.25pm) preview
This could well be the last time we see the great Stradivarius on a racecourse, and it is something of a bonus appearance as the mood music after his defeat behind Trueshan at Longchamp a fortnight ago was that he was already on his way to stud. But Bjorn Neilsen, Stradivarius’s owner, was working on the fair assumption that the ground would be hock deep on Champions Day, and assuming that this morning’s sprinkling of rain has not changed his outlook significantly, Stradivarius will get one last chance to get the better of Trueshan, the winner of the two races to date when the ground allowed both horses to go to post.
The rain has certainly increased the punters’ enthusiasm for Trueshan, though, and Hollie Doyle’s mount is now top-priced at 11-8 having been available at 7-4 overnight, with Stradivarius (4-1) only just shading Hamish (9-2) for second-favouritism. Hamish has also shown a liking for soft ground, but this is not a two- or even three-horse race and BARON SAMEDI is also worth close inspection as an each-way alternative at around 8-1. Joseph O’Brien’s runner was third behind Sonnyboyliston in a strong renewal of the Irish St Leger last time, having been left with plenty to do at the top of the straight, and was also a Grade Two winner at Belmont Park over this two-mile trip in June.
Updated
Where's the money going?
The morning rain has certainly had an impact on the markets with Trueshan (1.25pm), the mount of Holly Doyle who was profiled here by our own Donald McRae, being well supported from 7-4 into 11-8. St Leger third The Mediterranean (10-1 from 20-1) has also been well backed in the opener. In the Champions Fillies & Mares Albaflora (2.35pm) (9-2 from 6-1) has attracted money while a spokesperson for Britishgambler.co.uk says it’s been all about Palace Pier (3.10pm) at 7-4 in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. The final race, the Balmoral Handicap, has seen a couple of moves with Sunray Major (4.30pm) now 2-1 from 3-1 and Aldaary 4-1 from 9-1.
Non-runners
Two horses have been pulled out of the first race and those are the only absentees on the card so far. Here are the details:
1.25pm British Champions Long Distance Cup (Group 2)
No 5 Morando (Going)
10 Princess Zoe (Vet’s Certificate - Lame)
Updated
Going update
Hello and welcome to what promises to be a vintage day’s racing with a whole host of high-class horses lined up and a few great clashes on the cards ... importantly there’s been a ground change after more rain than expected this morning. It’s now good to soft out there ...
Going Update ⬇️
— Ascot Racecourse (@Ascot) October 16, 2021
The Going is now Good to Soft, Soft in Places, following 2.5mm rain to 11:45am this morning
Preamble
The latest slice of poor PR that attached itself to Oisin Murphy overnight was not the best way to herald the 11th British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday afternoon, when Murphy is highly likely to be crowned champion jockey for the third year running. And if there is a patron saint of headline writers, he or she can expect to be overwhelmed with fervent prayers over the next few hours, asking them to intercede on behalf of Alcohol Free in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.
Once the action starts, however, a “fracas” in a Newmarket pub last week is likely to be the last thing on most punters’ minds, as the stars have aligned impeccably for the latest renewal of Britain’s richest day at the races. “Good” appears in the official going description for the first time since 2016, and the appearance of Adayar and Snowfall, the Derby and Oaks winners respectively, less than two weeks after running in the Arc in Paris, is another unexpected bonus.
The going has even managed to end up in the “Goldilocks” zone for Trueshan and Stradivarius, the best stayers around, and there will be no room for excuses from either side after the Long Distance Cup at the top of the card. After that, it is Group One action all the way until the Balmoral Handicap at 3.50pm (all times today BST), when Sunray Major, a Frankie Dettori-ridden hotpot at a frankly ridiculous price, will be around 2-1 to beat 19 rivals and send the punters home in buoyant mood.
And while the jockeys’ title race may be as good as over, the race for the trainers’ title is very much alive and kicking, with Charlie Appleby around £300,000 in front of Andrew Balding and £575,000 ahead of John Gosden.
Gosden trains Mishriff and Palace Pier, the favourites for the Champion Stakes and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, which are respectively worth £714,546 and £623,810 to the winner. Appleby’s big hopes include Adayar and Master Of The Seas in the same two races, while Balding may well need to win the QEII with Alcohol Free to keep his title hopes alive.
Tips for all six of today’s races are here and the action is under way at 1.25pm.
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