Look To The Stars on Champions Day

Just 11 years old in its reconstructed state, Ascot's QIPCO British Champions Day is not yet the supermassive black hole it longs to be, but its gravitational waves are enough to draw in a sufficient quantity of racing's brightest year upon year to justify its title. Saturday's binary stars are the turf overlord Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and the miling dame Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}), whose orbits have been steadily coming closer into view over the past weeks. In the case of the former, this final act of his stellar career in the feature contest serves as a benediction while the filly is here to serve notice of what is to follow in 2023.

Baaeed's work over the past 16 months has led him to this point of valediction and enhanced rank that only very few enjoy. That it comes a rounded 10 years after Frankel's parting moment lends it an even greater solemnity and few will accept anything other than a last stately flourish from Shadwell's prodigy. The product of four decades of nurture by the late Sheikh Hamdan's celebrated organisation beginning with that seminal acquisition of The Queen's Height Of Fashion (Fr), William Haggas's model pupil returns to Berkshire and the human hubbub that such a day generates armed with his usual supreme proficiency.

“Staying unbeaten is terribly important now that we are nearly there,” Haggas said. “Everything so far this year has gone exactly as we wanted it to go when we sat down in March to decide our programme. It's been half a miracle to get to this situation in the position we are in. It's up to him now.”

What Of Adayar?

There are a clutch of colts in opposition to Baaeed that have at times shown a sufficient level of dexterity in this type of company to command respect despite his overarching presence. After what Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) did at Sandown in the G3 Brigadier Gerard S. back in May, it is scarcely believable that he has dwindled to the role of bit-player here while even the likes of the big horse's stablemate My Prospero (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}), who hinted at his latent ability in the summer, is generally disregarded as a genuine threat.

Despite the obvious merits of this select crew, most view the greatest stumbling block to the inevitable coming from Frankel's Adayar (Ire), a towering colossus last midsummer who was dragged into the mire in Paris and here during the autumn. Rebuilt and renewed during a painstaking spell spanning months at Moulton Paddocks, it seems strange to say that he represents a still-unknown quantity, but the fact is that nobody can confidently predict what his limitations are heading to this moment of truth.

“He's had harder home gallops than the race at Doncaster, so theoretically we are going into this weekend as our first start of the year against proper competition,” Charlie Appleby said of Adayar. “We have seen what Adayar can do and he looks in great shape. Last year, we ended up being in front in the Arc and missing his prep race probably told in the end and then he ran in this like a horse whose previous start had gotten to him slightly.”

“Going into it this year, it's a different ball game,” his notably bullish trainer added. “Can we beat Baaeed? We are going there a fresher horse this year in conditions that we are quite relaxed about. It's going to be a fantastic race and hopefully one that will go down in the history books as being one of the great races that we have seen over the past few years.”

Marking The Occasion

In the year of the loss of the UK's longstanding monarch, this renewal of the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. almost demands something special to stamp it and Cheveley Park Stud's G1 Coronation S. and G1 Prix Jacques Le Marois heroine Inspiral is the most obvious fit. Bar her eclipse on sun-tightened ground in the G1 Falmouth S., the Gosdens' elite performer of 2022 has set the bar among her age group at this trip while all the time suggesting a deal more to come.

In each of the four occasions that Gosden Sr. has prevailed in this, it has been from left field. After upsetting Giant's Causeway and Henrythenavigator with Obervatory and Raven's Pass, respectively, he delivered Cheveley Park's nearly horse Persuasive (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) to down Ribchester (Ire) before diverting Roaring Lion from middle-distances for his crowning moment. No such guile is needed when it comes to Inspiral, whose claims are as obvious as those of the stable's Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) who was denied in the past two editions by the deep-ground specialist The Revenant (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and by Baaeed.

“She's been a superstar this season,” commented Frankie Dettori, who after a mixed year will be hoping to compensate for Palace Pier's eclipse 12 months ago. “She's been doing very well at home since and everyone is pleased with how she's coming into the race. Apart from a blip on the July Course, she's been a model of consistency and will hopefully prove hard to beat.”

Let The Games Commence

Charlie Appleby has gone through 2022 with the kind of precision strikes that have become the norm at his Newmarket base in recent years and despite the no-show of his Frankel heavyweights Adayar and Hurricane Lane (Ire) and the demise of Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) arrives at Champions Day still poised to win another trainers' championship. In the QEII, the hardy transatlantic entrepreneur Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) represents key opposition to Inspiral, while the select crew also includes the defending G1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint S. titleholder and favourite Creative Force (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and the prime G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S. contender Eternal Pearl (GB) (Frankel {GB}). His biggest “outsider” of the day is Naval Crown (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who returns to the scene of his course-and-distance personal best in the June 18 G1 Platinum Jubilee S., so it is safe to say he is here with a notable party.

“How do you split Creative Force and Naval Crown?,” Appleby asked. “One's been there and done it on the occasion on this ground and that may be Creative Force's edge. Eternal Pearl has been strengthening throughout the year and that's why we purposefully have not dipped our toe into group one company already. She goes into this with a lovely profile and we are quite relaxed ground-wise. Staying is her forte, and if it came up testing it would play to her strengths. Modern Games can do Champions Day and the Breeders' Cup–it has been done many times before. He had a nice break after the Sussex Stakes and found it all very easy in Canada, so it doesn't worry me at all.”

Up For Grabs

With the Champion and QEII featuring strong favourites promising great excitement but little return for the currently beleaguered pound in their pockets, value-hunters will be looking at the first three races on the card. In the last five editions, eight of the 25 group races have been won by horses with double-figure odds and so at a time of year when there is great change in external and internal factors there is all to play for. In the Sprint, which is particularly prone to upsets, Chasemore Farm's G2 Greenlands S. winner Brad The Brief (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}), Ballydoyle's G1 Prix Jean Prat and G1 Cheveley Park S. heroine Tenebrism (Caravaggio) and Susan Roy's G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest third Garrus (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) all trade at inflated odds given their high level of form.

A True Test

The opening G2 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup sees the treble-seeking Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}) bid to put a rare defeat on his favoured easy surface in the Sept. 11 G2 Doncaster Cup behind him. Having looked so ill-at-ease behind Coltrane (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) there, the doubt is that he can deal with two unexposed 3-year-olds in Ballydoyle's Irish Cesarewitch winner Waterville (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) and KHK Racing's St Leger hero Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). The latter is adding an extra element as the first winner of the Doncaster Classic to come here, with trainer Roger Varian having meticulously weighed up the pros and cons of tackling this at such a fledgling stage of his career. “We think his best is still to come, hopefully on Saturday and beyond into next year,” he said of the colt, who looks to become the first of his age group to win this. “He shapes like he'll stay two miles and looks like he might be better over it.”

Return Journey

Six years ago, Frankie Dettori steered George Strawbridge's Journey (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) to Fillies & Mares glory as one of the seven Champions Day winners which make him the meeting's leading jockey since its inception, but he has deserted her full-sister Mimikyu (GB) in this year's renewal, with the lure of the long-absent 'TDN Rising Star' Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) too strong. That leaves Rab Havlin to seek a second career Group 1 in the space of just eight days, having deputised for the suspended Italian on Commissioning (GB) (Kingman {GB}) in the Fillies' Mile. Frankie's call is a brave one, with Mimikyu having beaten last year's winner Eshaada (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}) comprehensively in Doncaster's G2 Park Hill S. Sept. 8 and every bit of her profile suggests she is one of those autumn improvers in which Clarehaven specialises. Emily Upjohn was undone over this course and distance in the King George and will need to cut an entirely different figure on this attempted rival with the conservation of energy essential in the early downhill section.

“Emily has had a long lay-off since the King George, where she never really turned up, and her homework since has been very good,” Dettori said. “She's been working well at home with a hood on to help settle her and she'll have it on for Saturday. She was extremely keen in the King George, so hopefully this helps. Mimikyu is running well and improving a lot, but we've always thought Emily was our number one filly, so I've decided to stick with her. She definitely has the class.”

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Havlin Decides Against Appeal

Jockey Rab Havlin has decided he will not appeal the decision by Lingfield stewards to suspend him 21 days for failing to take all reasonable and permissible measures to win a race on Apr. 21. Havlin was riding the John and Thady Gosden-trained Stowell (GB) (Zoffany {Ire}) when the 3-year-old made a late move on debut but just failed to catch his stablemate Polling Day (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), ridden by Frankie Dettori. Stowell was beaten a head under a hands and heels ride.

Gosden spoke out in support of Havlin, saying he always asks jockeys to avoid using the whip on newcomers.

Havlin said after riding Side Shot (GB) (Frankel {GB}) to win at Doncaster on Friday, “There were a few avenues we could go down. I spoke to Rory [Mac Neice, solicitor] and we discussed it, but I just didn't want it to drag on into next week. I wanted to draw a line under it and just move on. That's racing, my lad wasn't going much quicker in the straight and Frankie's was and was ridden out. I just thought it was the best thing to do [not appeal], put a line under it and walk on.

“I'll take some time off. I haven't had a day off in 18 months, so I'll take some time off and spend it with the kids.”

Gosden, speaking from Sandown, also addressed the news this week that his apprentice Benoit de la Sayette has had his license suspended after testing positive for cocaine, having previously denied using the.

“This is a problem in every town, village and city up and down the country,” said Gosden. “The teenagers have been in lockdown for a year, they are bored stiff and can't even go and play football with their friends in the park. They are looking for another stimulant. You don't have to be Einstein to see alcohol sales have gone through the roof, people are drinking more because they are bored looking at the walls. These kids are no different, to that extent they need all the support they can get, and a firm talking to.

“You could probably go into Esher now and find some cocaine in a beer garden. But remember it also suppresses appetite, if you are a jockey wasting. If you drink alcohol you've got sugar and carbohydrates that go with that so it's another way of having a good time. But it's illegal and it's got to be stamped out.”

“Urine samples are one thing, but hair samples are another. He was messing around with it at the beginning of the year and he's paid a mighty price. I see no harm in doing more testing, it's an obvious place to go.”

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Gosden Strikes For A Third Winter Derby

Godolphin's Forest of Dean (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}) had finished adrift of Marco Botti trainee Felix (GB) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) in both starts this term and stepped forward to exact revenge on that familiar foe in Saturday's G3 Betway Winter Derby Trial at Lingfield, providing John Gosden with a record-breaking third renewal of the fledgling 10-furlong test. Successful in four of seven starts in 2019, he was under wraps until running third in a Jan. 11 Wolverhampton conditions heat on belated return before filling the same spot in the Feb. 6 Listed Winter Derby Trial over course and distance last time. The 10-3 third favourite accepted a tow from Johnny Drama (Ire) (Lilbourne Lad {Ire}) through halfway. Bounding to the front soon after passing the three-furlong marker, he poached a decisive lead off the home turn and kept on strongly under late urging to hold the late thrust of Felix by 3/4-of-a-length.

“He's definitely on an upward curve and Rab [Havlin] rode him beautifully,” the winning trainer said. “When he got to the top of the hill he said 'I'm gonna steal this' and kept him rolling. He's a brave little horse who was off for over 400 days after having problems following his run at Newbury [in Sept. 2019]. I think the [Apr. 2] Easter Classic over a mile-and-a-quarter [on All-Weather Championships Finals Day] might be more his scene than the [one-mile] Lincoln.”

Pedigree Notes

Forest of Dean is the fourth of eight foals produced by the dual stakes-placed Forest Crown (GB) (Royal Applause {GB}) and the March-foaled bay is a half-brother to G2 Prix de Sandringham second Golden Crown (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) and G3 Athasi S. third Rionach (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}). From a family featuring GISW sire Storm Cat (Storm Bird) and dual Group 1 winner Reckless Abandon (GB) (Exchange Rate), he is also kin to a yearling colt by Wootton Bassett (GB) and a weanling colt by Lope de Vega {Ire}). His dam is a half-sister to G1 Racing Post Trophy-winning sire Crowded House (GB) (Rainbow Quest) and to the dam of MGISW distaffer Ticker Tape (GB) (Royal Applause {GB}) and G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest hero Brando (GB) (Pivotal {GB}).

Saturday, Lingfield, Britain
BETWAY WINTER DERBY S.-G3, ÂŁ55,000, Lingfield, 2-27, 4yo/up, 10f (AWT), 2:04.92, st.
1–FOREST OF DEAN (GB), 126, g, 5, by Iffraaj (GB)
1st Dam: Forest Crown (GB) (MSP-Eng),
                                by Royal Applause (GB)
2nd Dam: Wiener Wald, by Woodman
3rd Dam: Chapel of Dreams, by Northern Dancer
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN. (450,000gns Ylg '17
TATOCT). O-Godolphin; B-Car Colston Hall Stud (GB); T-John
Gosden; J-Robert Havlin. ÂŁ30,811. Lifetime Record: 13-5-2-2,
$180,038. *1/2 to Golden Crown (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}), GSP-Fr;
and Rionach (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), GSP-Ire. Werk Nick
   Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Felix (GB), 126, g, 5, Lope de Vega (Ire)–Luminance (Ire), by
Danehill Dancer (Ire). (32,000gns RNA Ylg '17 TAOCT;
24,000gns 3yo '19 TATAHI). O-K Sohi & Partner; B-Fittocks Stud
(GB); T-Marco Botti. ÂŁ11,732.
3–Father of Jazz (GB), 126, c, 4, Kingman (GB)–Bark (Ire), by
Galileo (Ire). O-W J & T C O Gredley; B-Stetchworth & Middle
Park Studs Ltd (GB); T-Roger Varian. ÂŁ5,874.
Margins: 3/4, 1, 1 1/4. Odds: 3.33, 3.00, 1.50.
Also Ran: Power of States (Ire), Johnny Drama (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Havlin Wins Appeal

Rab Havlin has won his appeal against a 10-day ban for careless riding after an incident at Yarmouth on July 22.

Yarmouth stewards deemed that Havlin had failed to take sufficient action to prevent the John Gosden-trained Swift Verdict (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) from shifting left and causing a chain reaction that affected Dreaming Blue (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), ridden by Tom Marquand, and My Vision (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) under Harry Bentley. Swift Verdict, the €1.4-million first foal out of Classic winner Just The Judge (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}), eventually finished third with Dreaming Blue in sixth and My Vision ninth.

Havlin reflected, “On the day it was bad. No one is taking away the interference was significant. The two lads [Marquand and Bentley] were lucky to stand up.

“From my point of view there was little I could do. They said it was under a right-hand drive. It actually took two seconds for the whole thing to happen. We looked at it for three hours at the inquiry this morning and obviously I’m glad at the outcome. When you slowed it down, I literally had half a second to get him off, so who can do that in half a second? I know the stewards on the day have got a tough job because they haven’t got time to go over it like they could in London.

“I don’t normally appeal. I think it’s the second appeal in my career, but I just felt I thought people looked at the interference and saw two horses nearly coming down and thinking somebody must have done something bad for that to happen. But as even Tom said himself, the riding offence that caused it was minimal.”

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