Cracksman bids to emulate his sire Frankel and bring the curtain down on his career today with a stirring triumph in the centrepiece of Qipco Champions Day, the Gr1 QIPCO Champion Stakes.
The Racing Post reports that just like six years ago, John Gosden’s colt will have to handle demanding conditions if he is to go out on a high and he even has his own version of Frankel’s counterpart Bullet Train in the shape of stablemate Maverick Wave to cut out the running for him.
The four-year-old is also out to become just the second horse this century to land the 2000m contest in successive years, after present day Klawervlei sire Twice Over in 2010 and 2011, but the first since it moved from Newmarket in 2012.
Twice Over
After his seven-length romp 12 months ago, Cracksman enjoyed a bright opening to his four-year-old campaign when landing Group 1 victories in the Prix Ganay and Coronation Cup.
Since then, he has become something of the forgotten horse of the season following his subsequent defeat at the hands of Poet’s Word in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in June when his mind may well have not been on the job.
Unsuited to the lightning-fast ground that day, owner Anthony Oppenheimer’s charge has since bypassed intended engagements in the King George, Juddmonte International and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe to get some respite underfoot.
John Gosden – fits the blinkers
Cracksman also wears blinkers for the first time in a bid to focus his efforts one final time but could be better drawn in stall eight.
The big race will be broadcast live on the new look Tellytrack Dstv 239 at 16h50.
