Jack Hobbs draws wide in Champion Stakes

Trainer Aidan O’Brien will walk the track at Ascot before making a decision whether Gleneagles runs in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.

The £1.3 million ($2 million, 1.76 million euros) ten furlong prize is one of the showpieces of Champions Day where in 2012 the mighty Frankel signed off his racing career in style. Perhaps Paloma’s presence has put the purists off because a worrying number of heavily discounted tickets have been flaunted in recent weeks for what should be a top-of-the-range, flagship day, without being elite or exclusive. “That was equal to his best”.

He went on: “He could run in something like the Brigadier Gerard at Sandown, it’s a good stepping stone for those horses who have won a Group One and I’m not frightened of going straight to a mile and a half with him”. He’s a miler but he can stay. “And it was bit soft”.

“Champions-wise we saw two exceptional talents”. It is more likely, however, this was his swansong.

Trainer Freddy Head is adamant of a big showing and from the races I have seen her compete in, she looks to have the best chance on paper. “That was his best performance”, he said.

“I was getting there a bit too early, but I always thought he might like a bit of cut in the ground and it was never in doubt”. A horse reared up in the stalls next to us and he didn’t bat an eyelid.

“It’s been a long year for him, but he’s got such a fantastic temperament”.

The former hurdler, bred by the Malton trainer’s mother, is one of the favourites for a wide open renewal of the two-mile Long Distance Cup which also features Ebor hero Litigant.

One horse on a steep upward curve is Clive Cox’s Kodi Bear, victor of three of his four runs this season since a setback in the spring forced him to miss the Guineas. “I like this place”, he said. The former, who was bought specifically to win this very contest, bounced back to form by landing the Doncaster Cup last month, while the latter, now he has fully grown into his frame, is finally fulfilling the exciting potential he has always displayed. “He’s a huge horse – he weighs 520 kilos – he needed the run [at Windsor] when he was coming back of a break but he was very impressive at Leopardstown”.

Victory would complete a memorable double for the aforementioned Lee following the rider’s Ascot Gold Cup success on Trip To Paris earlier in the year.

Pat Smullen, his jockey, said that he had got further back than planned.

“I feel he is happy over both 1m2f and 1m4f and he has a lot of tactical speed”.

“When I walked the course, there are strips that are good and strips that are a bit slow at the moment”. He beat them all on merit today.

Often this is said with fingers hidden behind the back and firmly crossed but Weld, who has trained winners on every major racing continent told Racing United Kingdom: “It had been the plan for about six months”.

The Fillies and Mares’ Stakes arguably produced the race of the day as the Ralph Beckett-trained St Leger victor Simple Verse eventually wore down Journey and Frankie Dettori late on inside the final furlong to supplement her controversial Classic win at Doncaster in a more clear-cut manner, giving her connections the chance to celebrate properly this time.

A RECORD number of horses are set to line up on Britain’s richest raceday, QIPCO British Champions Day, tomorrow at Ascot racecourse (October 17). “It has sealed our season”, he said. “We don’t have many runners, but this day is also very special”.