Soft Falling Rain
Ascot hosts the QIPCO Champions Day offering £3.4m in prize money on Saturday. It is the richest day’s racing ever held in Britain, and provides a diverse range of talents on a glittering line up of champion racehorses.
Chris Stickels, clerk of the course at Ascot, reported earlier this week that the ground was “good to soft, soft in places”, but with rain forecast at the weekend – and only two dry days in between – soft ground horses should be in their element.
On the other hand, those with a preference for a sound surface underfoot will almost certainly be sent elsewhere, as illustrated by Aidan O’Brien’s decision to divert Declaration Of War from the Champion Stakes to the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita next month.
South African Champion trainer Mike de Kock is concerned about the prospect of heavy ground for Soft Falling Rain in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. The South African star is said to be in fine shape ahead of the Group 1 event. However, his trainer believes that he will not be at his best on rain-softened conditions.
The horse is as short as 9-4 in some places for the QEII where he is likely to take on high-class three-year-olds Dawn Approach and Toronado. De Kock said: “From what I know about him, I don’t think it would suit him if it got too soft. “If it does get bottomless I’d probably have to discuss with Sheikh Hamdan about what we’d do. My gut feeling is that he wouldn’t want it too soft.”
With the expectation of soft ground for Saturday, it is no surprise that mud-loving Cirrus Des Aigles has shortened into 7-4 with bookmaker Paddy Power to land his second Champion Stakes. The French seven-year-old won the first running of the new-look Champion at the Berkshire track in 2011, and he was a 1¾ lengths second to Frankel last year.
The gelding had been a little disappointing this season before bouncing back to form at Maissons-Laffitte in September and then winning the Prix Dollar at Longchamp in grand style on Arc weekend.
Trainer Corinne Barande-Barbe is confident she has the gelding back to his best. Race one on QIPCO British Champions Da is going to set the tone for a remarkable day, with The Queen’s Estimate, brilliant winner of the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in June, looking to maintain her unbeaten Ascot record in the QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup.
She won’t have it all her own way, however, with last year’s narrow runner-up, Aiken, together with top notch stayers Ahzeemah, Ernest Hemmingway, Eye Of The Storm, Times Up, Royal Diamond, Saddler’s Rock and the 2012 Gold Cup winner, Colour Vision, in opposition.
Race two on the card is the £350,000 QIPCO British Champions Sprint in which the top class Maarek will be looking to register back-to-back wins having defeated Hawkeyethenoo and Sirius Prospect 12 months ago, both of whom are set to renew rivalry on Saturday. Maarek, trained in Ireland by Barry Lalor, won the Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp nine days ago and thrives in the autumn on soft ground.
The third race is the £500,000 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes, upgraded to Group 1 status this year, which has attracted a very strong field. Dalkala, winner of the Prix de l’Opera at Longchamp last week for trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre, is set to try to secure a second Group 1 victory in less than a fortnight, but the opposition is formidable.
Brilliant Investec Oaks winner and Ladbrokes St Leger runner-up, Talent, is waiting in the wings along with our star filly, Igugu, and the one-two from the Blandford Stakes in Ireland, Belle De Crecy, who has been supplemented for the race, and Hot Snap.
