The weights were announced this week for the Melbourne Cup and it seems that British and Irish trainers are back with a bang.
Andrew Balding, Henry De Bromhead, Brian Ellison, John & Thady Gosden, Jessica Harrington, Willie Mullins (three), Aidan O’Brien (six) and Dermot Weld all have nominations.
They have good chances too. Vauban (Mullins) is once again favourite though at the weights if you fancy him, you must fancy Absurde on last year’s form.
There’s no Charlie Appleby (yet), but this year’s entries do mark a return from trainers in this hemisphere. That may have something to do with an Irish company now taking charge of the veterinary checks for foreign horses which were seen as far too invasive before.
Many of “our” horses do go abroad, partly for better prize money and partly for quicker ground. Melbourne’s Spring Carnival and the Breeders’ Cup in the States are very inviting, but is this coming to the detriment of Champions Day at Ascot?
Conditions All Wrong for Champions Day
Some of Britain and Ireland’s major owners would stay at home with their top horses, even if prize money were less. The trick for many is finding the right conditions.
We can’t do much about British weather, but could timings and locations change? Ascot is perennially wet for Champions Day. Soft and heavy ground means that the horses who’ve run well all year in the Champions Series either don’t go there or suffer in the conditions.
Newmarket, the alternative for a Champions Day, is arguably just too straight. Is there enough wiggle room in the British racing calendar to make a radical change to Champions Day?
Should York Be the Rightful Home of the Big Day?
It’s been said many times that there is too much graded racing in the south. York has it’s three Group 1’s and the best Derby trial, but it remains criminally underused at the top level.
Prize money there is fantastic, the course is always lauded, results are fair, facilities are excellent and the Juddmonte International is so often among the top three races run around the world annually.
The high prospect of better ground would certainly help any Champions Day, so moving it forward three weeks is the first thing we should do. As for a meeting at York impinging on other major races, well there have been precedents.
Back in the 80’s the Breeders’ Cup came from nowhere and now it is the highest-class meeting in the world. Until a few years ago, jumpers would fiddle around at different meetings from Christmas until Cheltenham, but now there is the Dublin Racing Festival in February which was immediately well received.
In terms of clashes, there are compromises. Any late-September Champions Day horses would miss quarantine for the Melbourne Cup, but such types would be unlikely to take in both meetings anyway.
Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe horses tend not to go for the Champions Stakes, so a new version wouldn’t affect that. The major difference for that type of horse would now be them potentially going from a York Champions Day to the Breeders’ Cup, if anywhere.
This move would also be a chance for Britain to add a long-awaited seven-furlong Group 1 race to the calendar. One was nearly granted this year, funnily enough the City of York Stakes. It would be nice to see that race upgraded and moved from August to September which would be no big deal at all.
Potential New Champions Day Line-Up
British and Irish horses are flooding to the major meetings in France, USA and Australia over the next six weeks or so.
Some of them may well stay at home if Champions Day were altered slightly.
- Long Distance Cup (Group 2), 2 miles.
There would be a major clash between this and the Goodwood Cup. Instead, this could be replaced by a juvenile race which Champions Day is lacking. Could the Royal Lodge be moved here? This is currently run on the same proposed day at Newmarket - Sprint (Group 1), 6 furlongs.
This could basically stay the same. There is enough time between the Haydock Sprint Cup and this race, while it also follows nicely for those having run in the Nunthorpe at York in August if they wish to step up in trip - Fillies & Mares (Group 1), 1 miles, 3½ furlongs.
There is a clash with the Prix Vermeille, but this offers very different conditions. It also follows the Nassau Stakes nicely at Glorious Goodwood - Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (Group 1), 1 mile.
Both the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood and the Prix du Moulin in France could be taken in before this. It would not adversely affect the mile division - Champion Stakes (Group 1), 1 mile, 2 furlongs.
There would be a clash with the Irish Champion Stakes, but rarely do horses go for both races anyway. There are enough horses in this division to go around. This follows the Sussex (for those stepping up in trip) and the Juddmonte International nicely - Balmoral Handicap, 1 mile.
This is not a championship race anyway. Leave this at Ascot, and replace with the moved and upgraded City Of York Stakes over seven furlongs. There are too many seven-furlong Group 2’s earlier in the season anyway. Some such types could take in this en route to the Breeders’ Cup Mile
This reshuffle is arguably one of two things we need. We are missing a major opportunity to have a Group 1 five-furlong sprint at Epsom during the Derby Festival. This would be, and could be marketed as, “the fastest race in the world”. These are not hard changes to make.