It’s Qipco British Champions Day at Ascot this Saturday and with four Group One contests from their six races it’s an afternoon of top-quality and unmissable action from the Berkshire track.
All the ‘big-gun’ stables will be on show throughout the afternoon at Ascot, while all eyes will also be on the king of the staying cup races – Stradivarius – in the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup (2:10), as he bids to win his eleventh race on the bounce
Away from Ascot, the jumping action goes up several notches with cards at Stratford, Ffos Las and Market Rasen, while there’s an afternoon flat card from Catterick and the regular evening fixture at Wolverhampton.
We’ll be highlighting our TOP FOUR trends to look for from the ITV Racing and putting them in a big-priced ‘Cracker Acca’ – plus, giving you the ‘best of the rest’ trends from around the other tracks this Saturday.
Plus – don’t forget, you can also get more help finding the winner for all this Saturday’s races on our Free Horse Racing Tips page.
(Pays £1,920 for a £3 stake)
2.10 Ascot: All eyes will be on the prolific cup horse – STRADIVARIUS – here as he bids to win the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup for the second year in-a-row. Just like last season, he’s mopped-up all the main cup races and in the process scooped another £1m bonus. He’ll also be bidding for career win number fifteen here and his eleventh on the spin. With Frankie Dettori ridding, it will be a huge shock if he’s not ending the season on another high.
4.00 Ascot: The Qipco Champion Stakes has gone to the John Gosden yard for the last two years and they’ve every chance of making it three. They run the classy CORONET here, who was runner-up in the filly and mares’ race on this card twelve months ago. She’s lightly-raced this season, with just three runs, but heads here in tip-top form after two Group One victories in France. Soft ground is ideal, she’s a proven course winner and also stays further should it get into a slog.
4.15 Ffos Las: The Paul Nicholls yard have won the Welsh Champion Hurdle twice since 2014, so their LE PREZIEN makes plenty of appeal here. Rated in the 150’s over fences, so his mark of 149 over hurdles makes him very interesting. Soft ground is fine for him and he ran well at the track last year over fences. The experienced Barry Geraghty is an added bonus in the saddle.
4:30 Catterick: The Tim Easterby camp have targeted this race with success in recent years and have also had winners this midweek. They run PARYS MOUNTAIN here, who is a proven course and distance winner at the track – his recent runs here read 3-1-2. Draw five is a plus too, while did well at this time of the year last season.
(Pays £1,920 for a £3 stake)
1.35 Ascot: Sands Of Mali won this race twelve months ago.
2.45 Ascot: Jockey Frankie Dettori has a 23% record when riding three-year-olds at the track.
3.20 Ascot: Trainer John Gosden has won the last two renewals of this race.
2.50 Catterick: The Richard Fahey yard have a 24% record with their four-year-olds or older at the course.
3.25 Catterick: The Julie Camacho yard have a 31% record with their four-year-olds or older at the course.
5.00 Catterick: The horse from stall six has won three of the last six runnings.
1.45 Stratford: Trainer Paul Nicholls has a 42% record with his hurdlers at the track.
5.10 Stratford: The Henry Daly yard have a 31% record with his hurdlers at the course.
1.50 Ffos Las – Trainer Nicky Henderson has a 42% record with his hurdlers at the track.
2.25 Ffos Las – The Colin Tizzard yard have a 31% record with their hurdlers at the course.
3.00 Ffos Las – Candy Burg won this race twelve months ago.
3.35 Ffos Las – The Colin Tizzard stable have a 40% record with their chasers at the track.
4.50 Ffos Las – The Tom George stable have a 42% record with their chasers at the track.
2.00 Market Rasen: The Emma Lavelle yard boast a 50% record with their hurdlers at the track.
3.45 Market Rasen: The Paul Nicholls yard have won the last two runnings of this race.
4.20 Market Rasen: The Tom George yard have a 31% record with their chasers at the track.
4.55 Market Rasen: The Tom George yard have a 31% record with their chasers at the track.
5.30 Market Rasen: The Brian Ellison yard have a 38% record with their NH Flat runners at the track.
5.40 Wolverhampton: The Hugo Palmer yard have a 33% record with their two-year-olds at the track.
6.15 Wolverhampton: The John C McConnell yard have a 50% record with their four-year-olds or older at the course.
7.15 Wolverhampton: The Archie Watson yard have a 34% record with their three-year-olds at the track.
Every LIVE Saturday race covered on ITV can be found on our ITV Racing Tips section, with runner-by-runner previews for each contest.