Baaeed came unstuck as Bay Bridge floored the favourite in the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot.
Putting his unbeaten record on the line, 1-4 market leader lacked his usual brilliance behind the Sir Michael Stoute-trained winner. Baaeed floundered on the going as Bay Bridge traded blows with Adayar up the straight.
Ridden by Richard Kingscote, the 10-1 shot held his rival by half-a-length at the line.
"You can't be afraid of one horse and that's why," he said.
Baaeed's jockey Jim Crowley was quick to blame the ground for the shock defeat, recorded on the back of ten straight wins.
"I pressed the button today and it wasn’t there," he said.
“It’s unbelievable the journey we have been on. He is a very special horse and it is sad that he does not finish his career unbeaten as we have come so far."
Frankie Dettori quashed retirement rumours and gained redemption on Emily Upjohn in the Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes. Unlucky in the Oaks, just weeks before the jockey's short sabbatical from trainers John and Thady Gosden, the 3-1 favourite set the record straight at Group 1 level.
The daughter of Sea The Stars thrilled the crowd as she powered three lengths clear of 50-1 outsider Thunder Kiss.
“It would have been heartbreaking not to win a Group 1 with this filly this year after what happened at Epsom in the Oaks,” Dettori said.
The jockey raced to a double after keeping up Kinross' purple patch in the Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes.
Ralph Beckett's charge (3-1f) showed a smart turn of foot over a furlong out and it was one-way traffic thereafter.
But the bookies were saved when Inspiral's slow start thwarted Dettori's treble bid in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. Out to become the fourth winning market leader on the card, she could only make minor headway as Roger Varian's Bayside Boy (33-1) continued his rejuvenated spell in blinkers.
“Inspiral’s defeat in the QEII stopped a lot of multiples in their tracks but it was the first loss of Baaeed’s career in the Champion Stakes which really saved the day," said William Hill spokesperson Tony Kenny.
Sessions on the water treadmill brought Trueshan (11-8f) to his peak for a third QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup.
Unable to fully commit to the task at Doncaster, when a very short price to win, the stayer showed his true colours with a narrow verdict over Coltrane. Hollie Doyle's mount dug deep to reverse the placings from Town Moor by a head.
"What he has done today on the back of his last two runs is phenomenal," she said.
There was a sting in the tail, as Doyle received a ban totalling five days for two separate incidents of careless riding.
Will Buick scooped his first jockeys' title, ending the season with 157 winners and the all-important trophy from five-time champion of the profession Willie Carson.
