QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes
Group 1, Ascot 13:50
£500,000 guaranteed,
3yo plus,
6f, Class 1   
Saturday 21st October 2023

FormRatings

1 Art Power 40/1
2 Kinross 5/4F
3 Spycatcher 11/1
15 ran Distances: nk, 2l, nk
Time: 1m 16.92s (slow by 4.62s)

Art Power caused a shock at 40/1 as he battled back under David Allan to edge out favourite Kinross and Frankie Dettori.

Having raced on the sharp end, the King Power Racing-owned winner appeared to be a sitting duck when Kinross made a strong challenge entering the final furlong. 

Dettori’s mount edged ahead soon after but Art Power rallied gamely to get back up and score by a neck, making it a first winner on QIPCO British Champions Day for Yorkshire trainer Tim Easterby.

Spycatcher stayed on late to grab third, while Swingalong stuck to her task in fourth.

Easterby said: “Art Power has had a few bad luck stories, but he’s been in the first four nearly every time he has run here. You can’t knock that. And he always runs to the line.

“We gelded him during the winter because we couldn’t get a job for him at stud. He’s a wonderful little horse. He took his gelding well, he takes it well whatever you do with him – he’s a great horse to train, no fancy gallops or all that bulls***. He’s just brilliant.

“I thought David gave him a fantastic ride. He jumped out and travelled. And when he travels, he is hard to beat. He looked great today – he’s put weight back on. He lost a load of weight when he ran in France.

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Asked whether he will be out again this season, he said: “I don’t know; there’s racing in Hong Kong, we might take him over there – we shall see.”

Allan, also enjoying his first win at the meeting, said: “As Frankie came to me, I wasn't too happy. I thought, ‘I'm going to get beat a neck here and be really cheesed off’, but Art Power dug in really well for me the last half furlong and I couldn't believe he got back up. 

“I had no company for a lot of the race and, when he got a bit of company, he really stuck his neck out and ran through the line. I couldn't pull him up after, I don't know if that was excitement or what, but I couldn't stop him.

“He was bouncing today. I think he had a hard race in France, it took a little bit out of him. The start went wrong in the Abbaye; he hit his head on the gates, so that was that gone. 

“Today he bounced out and he's got the perfect ground for him. He likes it soft to heavy but he doesn't like it sticky, so it's just wet enough that he can use his speed. 

“It is great for him to get a Group One as he's had a few goes. He has run some good races but you're thinking, is he ever going to win one? But he was awesome today.”

Ralph Beckett said of Kinross: “I am very pleased and proud of him. We slightly had to go looking for Tim’s horse, to get by him. The winner’s very tough, isn’t he, on his ground. It’s just one of those things. That’s the way it goes. 

“I don’t know [about the Breeders’ Cup or Hong Kong] – we’ll talk about it after the weekend. It will be one or both. We will see.”

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Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes (Group 2)
£500,000 guaranteed, 3yo plus, 6f, Class 1
15 ran
Going: Soft

POS. (DRAW) DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 (1)     Art Power 6 9-4 Tim Easterby David Allan 40/1
2 (8) nk Kinross 6 9-4 Ralph Beckett Frankie Dettori 5/4F
3 (9) 2 Spycatcher 5 9-4 K R Burke Clifford Lee 11/1
4 (3) nk Swingalong 3 9-0 K R Burke Sam James 25/1
5 (5) 4 Run To Freedom 5 9-4 Henry Candy Trevor Whelan 25/1
6 (12) hd Makarova 4 9-1 Ed Walker Paul Mulrennan 66/1
7 (2) 1¾ Vadream 5 9-1 Charlie Fellowes Kieran Shoemark 20/1
8 (14) hd Mill Stream 3 9-3 Jane Chapple-Hyam William Buick 15/2
9 (15) 1½ Sandrine v 4 9-1 Andrew Balding Oisin Murphy 15/2
10 (10) shd Sense Of Duty 4 9-1 William Haggas Tom Marquand 14/1
11 (4) ¾ Believing 3 9-0 George Boughey Daniel Tudhope 28/1
12 (7) 1 Magical Sunset 3 9-0 Dominic Ffrench Davis Rossa Ryan 80/1
13 (13) ½ Ocean Quest 3 9-0 Mrs John Harrington Shane Foley 18/1
14 (6) 1½ Rohaan 5 9-4 David Evans Ryan Moore 11/1
15 (11) 1¾ Saint Lawrence 5 9-4 Archie Watson Hollie Doyle 18/1

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