British Champions Day: Ombudsman, Delacroix, Calandagan to meet at Ascot
Three of the world’s top-rated racehorses – Ombudsman, Delacroix and Calandagan – will meet in a blockbuster Champion Stakes at Ascot on Saturday.
Ombudsman, number one in the rankings, swooped late to beat Delacroix (rated joint sixth) in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes before the tables were turned in the Juddmonte International – and the pair now meet for a third time.
King George winner Calandagan, who is joint ninth in the global rankings, joins them, along with last year’s Irish Champion Stakes winner Economics who races for the first time in a year.
The Champion Stakes (16:05 BST) headlines five top-level Group One contests on a seven-race card on Qipco British Champions Day – the country’s richest raceday with a total of £4.35m prize money on offer.
Ombudsman’s stablemate Field Of Gold will run in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes for trainer John Gosden, whose strong hand on the day also features Gold Cup victor Trawlerman in the Long Distance Cup.
Owners Godolphin ran a pacemaker to assist Ombudsman in the Juddmonte at York and do so again in the £1.3m Champion Stakes, with Devil’s Advocate supplemented at a cost of £75,000.
French challenger First Look is another supplementary entry while other leading contenders include Dante and Great Voltigeur winner Pride Of Arras and Almaqam, who beat Ombudsman earlier in the season.