champion stakes

Couldnt agree more COT. These two are pretty much the only ones being specifically trained for the race and I can't see them being far away. I am on them both at nice prices and have even gone for a Cecil big race treble as Vita Nova must go close in the F & M race.

One at a very big price if we get good round is Planteur, cant see why its been campaigned at a mile recently, its only the spring when it beat sarafina and the summer when it was a shortish 4/1 to beat SYT and Rewilding at ascot where it had twice over behind

Hasn't Planteur jsut regressed Zil ?

Over a mile he has!!

love it. we zeroed in on the french & girls straight away :))

I predict an Indian summer over next few weeks - certainly no rain around in the next week, which means Nathaniel will likely miss the Arc and be re-routed to Ascot, ground-permitting, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's quick ground at Ascot, and he doesn't run in the Champion either.
The Champion Stakes taking place round the Ascot bend makes zero betting appeal AP. It will be heavily draw reliant. Don't understand why they had to take it away from HQ - it was a fair test there and it's simply not at Ascot.

I suppose that So You Think might come for the Champion Stakes after the Arc. Hard to see the form with Byword holding up at Ascot, especially as we know already that Byword is inferior to Twice Over and therefore Midday.

It looks more and more a Midday/Twice Over benefit, and if Mr Queally manages to hold midday up thins time instead of setting her up like a sitting duck she has a great chance.

I am not actually that scared of So You Think to be honest. Snow Fairy have him a real race in Ireland and midday has absolutely thrashed her twice already.

i wouldnt read Snow Fairys small field form along with her big field wins COT!!!

i wouldnt read Snow Fairys small field form along with her big field wins COT!!!

Byword just muscled his way into contention imo.

zilzal1     01 Oct 11 17:44 
i wouldnt read Snow Fairys small field form along with her big field wins COT!!!

Just noticed this,have put the same view up on the Arc thread,Zil knows

could frankel run in both, the champion and a hour later the qe11, shouldnt take much winning, any horse ever run in 2 races in a day ?

Such a shame they have single-handedly destroyed this great, historic race by re-scheduling it to Ascot.
Why ruined? It's a simple answer and a factual one: not a fair contest round a bend at Ascot and those drawn high will have next to no chance.

even worse, running the round qe11, now on the straight mile

As long as they don't get a big field (say more than 12) then I think the round course at Ascot is one of the best and fairest in the country. The best horse wins the St James Palace, Coronation Stakes, King George, and the QEII. Off the top of my head I can't think of any obviously unlucky losers who were beat by the draw or luck in running in those races over the last 10 years or so - though I'm happy to proved wrong.

The straight course is a different matter altogether, though that equally applies to other tracks like New'Mkt, York, Newbury etc as well, where being on the rail is often critical (eg. this years Cambridgeshire)

is it possible twice over is consistently underrated?

Am I missing something, these races used to be run at Newmarket and were run over a STRAIGHT course, so why should it be any different than in the past?

err... because Ascot's 10f is right-handed and clearly favours horses drawn on the inside in G1s. It's not even a talking point. Twice Over beaten by Byword due to draw would be one simple example.
At HQ it is a fair and even contest on a straight mile. At Ascot it is not. But hey, it's only been run at Newmarket for 133 years so why respect history when you can get more people through the turnstile?

Spot on ^