Cracksman, the odds-on favourite for the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot on Saturday, will wear blinkers for the first time in the final race of his career, in an attempt to coax him back to the form that secured a seven-length success in the same race last season.
Cracksman beat Poet’s Word, this year’s King George winner, into a distant second place at Ascot last October but he has not seen a racecourse since being two and a quarter lengths behind Poet’s Word at Royal Ascot in June. That defeat followed two Group One victories, in the Prix Ganay and the Coronation Cup.
The ground was heavy for Champions Day in 2017 and soft ground is expected to play to Cracksman’s strengths once again on Saturday. But John Gosden, his trainer, suggested after his defeat in June that Cracksman had been “looking at the girls” that had competed in an earlier race, and will use blinkers to keep his colt’s focus on the job in hand for the final two and a half minutes of his racing career.
Blinkers are commonplace at all levels of racing in the US, where Gosden started his training career in the 1980s. In Britain, while headgear is no longer referred to as the “rogue’s badge”, blinkers are still relatively rare, particularly at Group One level. Only 3.2% of runners in British Group Ones since 2003 have worn blinkers and eight of 176 have won, while five of the six that set off as favourite were beaten. Cracksman, though, is also looking to become the third blinkered Group One winner this year, after Merchant Navy in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes and US Navy Flag in the July Cup.
Frankie Dettori, Cracksman’s big‑race jockey, confirmed headgear would be used on the four-year-old in a post on his blog on the Ladbrokes website on Thursday. “We have the blinkers on him to keep his concentration levels up,” Dettori said. “If the same Cracksman turns up from last year, he will be very hard to beat.”
Cracksman is odds-on at 10-11 to beat seven rivals in the Champion Stakes after his stable companion Roaring Lion was re-routed to the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes over a mile.
John Gosden has confirmed that Roaring Lion, the winner of three Group One races at a mile and a quarter this season, will drop back to a mile for Saturday’s Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, one of the feature events at Ascot.
Redcar 1.45 Elieden 2.15 Absolute Dream 2.45 Icario 3.20 Fox Leicester 3.50 The Groove 4.20 Slipstream 4.55 Montana Dawn 5.25 Dutch Coed
Haydock 2.00 Dancing Rave 2.30 Welcoming (nb) 3.05 Mobsta 3.35 Sod’s Law (nap) 4.05 Guildhall 4.40 This Girl 5.15 Lincoln Park 5.50 The Knot Is Tied
Fakenham 2.05 Collodi 2.35 Miles To Milan 3.10 Cultivator 3.40 Mon Port 4.10 Actinpieces 4.45 General Custard
Wincanton 2.20 Southfield Torr 2.55 Canyouringmeback 3.25 Lovato 3.55 Boy In A Bentley 4.30 Beau Sancy 5.05 Silver Sea
Newcastle 5.10 Falcon Cliffs 5.45 Nathless 6.15 Boston George 6.45 Counter Spirit 7.15 Chosen World 7.45 Great Colaci 8.15 Mutabaahy 8.45 Cameo Star
Tips by Greg Wood
Roaring Lion has not run over eight furlongs since finishing fifth behind Saxon Warrior in the 2,000 Guineas in early May and is unbeaten in four races since stepping up to 10 furlongs for his next start in the Dante Stakes at York a couple of weeks later.
The decision to revert to a mile follows heavy rain at Ascot earlier this week which has left the official going as heavy, soft in places on the round course, which stages the 10-furlong Champion Stakes, but a little less demanding – soft, heavy in places – on the straight course, which hosts the QEII.
Roaring Lion’s switch from the Champion Stakes was heralded on Wednesday when he was cut from 7-2 to 11-4 for the QEII and replaced Recoletos at the head of the market. He is shorter still at a current top price of 2-1 now the move has been confirmed, with Karl Burke’s filly Laurens next in the list at 6-1 and Recoletos out to 13-2.
