Champions Day falls flat as Baaeed flops at Ascot
The jury will always be permanently out over the decision to move the Champion Stakes from Newmarket and create an end-of-season Flat racing extravaganza at Ascot and label it Champions Day. Unlike Cheltenham at the end of the jumps season which is a genuine championship meeting, the Ascot fixture does not often enough crown the actual champions. Soft ground and the end of a long, hard season too often puts paid to that. Today was meant to be the previously unbeaten Baaeed’s coronation but he could only labour home in fourth in the Champion Stakes with his jockey blaming the testing conditions which can so often prevail at Ascot at this time of year. The horse is now destined not to be talked about in the rank of the “equine GOATS” but maybe we’re being too insular as there is another unbeaten horse in the shape of Flightline over the pond ready to strut his stuff, on ITV too, when the Breeders’ Cup rolls into town next month.
I have a feeling that this time next year we will be talking about a jockey rather than any horse after the revelation in this morning’s Sun newspaper that Frankie Dettori is likely to retire at the end of the 2023 campaign. He had a double today and the bookies were quaking before Inspiral’s poor start in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes effectively ended his chances of a treble. Dettori would no doubt like nothing better than to bow out at a track where he became a legend when going through the card in 1996. Dettori lit up Ascot today and let’s savour his presence on the track while we can.
Updated
Balmoral Handicap (4.40pm) result
1 Shelir (Jason Watson) 80-1
2 Sweet Believer (A J Farragher) 8-1
3 Tacarib Bay (P J Dobbs) 16-1
4 Safe Voyage (Hollie Doyle) 28-1
20 ran
Also: 9-2 Fav Bashkirova
