Cirrus Des Aigles
QIPCO British Champions Day is Britain’s richest raceday with £3.75 million in prize money at Ascot on Saturday and Cirrus des Aigles is on a mission to win the QIPCO Champion Stakes for a second time having won it in 2011 and finished runner-up in 2012 and 2013.
He has, however, serious competition in the shape of Noble Mission, who will relish the soft ground, and Ruler of The World who was a close third last year.
The much vaunted Free Eagle is a possible starter but his trainer, Dermot Weld, will walk the track on Saturday morning to see if he will take part.
Al Kazeem does not appear to be in the same form as last year, but the supplemented Pether’s Moon has a chance.
Lady Cecil, who is hoping Noble Mission can recapture the crown which his full brother Frankel won for the stable in 2012, said: “I couldn’t be happier with him. He did his last piece of work on Saturday and just loved it.
“Just to have a runner at QIPCO British Champions Day is wonderful but to have one in with a chance is a privilege and is not something to be taken lightly.”
Richard Hannon said: “Pether’s Moon is very well, otherwise we wouldn’t have supplemented him. It is a logical step for him and he deserves a crack at that monumental prize money.
“He is very versatile ground-wise and he has plenty of speed so the drop back in trip should not be a problem [Pether’s Moon has not run over a distance as short as a mile and quarter since May 2013].
“He is the type of horse who pulls himself up when he gets to the front but I will be happy enough is he gets to the front in the QIPCO Champion Stakes.”
Staged for the first time in 2011, the QIPCO Champions Series incorporates the 35 top Flat races in the British horseracing calendar, showcasing the best Flat racing on the planet.
The 2014 Series took place over 27 racedays, launching on Saturday 3 May with the QIPCO 2000 Guineas on Newmarket’s Rowley Mile course and climaxing on QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday.
The Series comprises five championship categories, namely Sprint, Mile, Middle Distance, Long Distance and Fillies & Mares.
Each features the seven highest-rated races in that category, including no less than 12 of the world’s top 20 races, and brings together the finest horses, jockeys and trainers to compete for the sport’s most prestigious prizes.
The Series is staged at the country’s ten leading racecourses – Ascot, Doncaster, Epsom Downs, Goodwood, Haydock Park, Newbury, Newmarket’s July Course, Newmarket’s Rowley Mile, Sandown Park and York.
It encompasses all British Flat racing’s key festivals, including the QIPCO Guineas Festival, the Investec Derby Festival, Royal Ascot, the Piper Heidsieck July Festival, Betfair Weekend, Glorious Goodwood, the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival and the Ladbrokes St Leger Meeting.
The British Horseracing Authority said earlier that it sees no need for a contingency plan in case unraceable ground forces the abandonment of the British Champions Day card, although more rain arrived at the Berkshire track during the day and the forecast until the weekend remains unsettled.
