QIPCO Champion Stakes
Group 1, Ascot 15:55
£1,300,000 guaranteed,
3yo plus,
1m 1f 212y, Class 1   
Saturday 18th October 2025

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This race routinely attracts many of the world’s best ten furlong horses and that looks set to be the case again this year with Calandagan, Delacroix, Ombudsman, Los Angeles and last year’s winner Anmaat among the 38 entries.

Recent King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes Calandagan was second in the race last year and could bid to go one better while his trainer Francis-Henri Graffard has also entered the 2024 King George winner Goliath and the unbeaten Daryz who looks a fascinating possible contender.

Godolphin are entrusting “master trainer” John Gosden with plotting an autumn campaign full of intrigue for Ombudsman, after connections confirmed their stable star would sidestep a third meeting with Delacroix in the Irish Champion Stakes.

The Night Of Thunder colt, trained jointly by John and Thady Gosden, turned the tables in dramatic fashion at York when powering to Juddmonte International glory, erasing the painful memory of his Coral-Eclipse defeat and squaring the ledger with Aidan O’Brien’s flagbearer.

That was his second Group One of a stellar season, following a polished display in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot. Yet Leopardstown will come too soon, with the Clarehaven team keen to keep their charge fresh for more pressing assignments further down the line.

“I spoke to John this (Wednesday) morning and he’s a master trainer and I think the plan he has set out is very much similar to what he had in mind after the win in the Juddmonte International,” explained Godolphin’s managing director Hugh Anderson to the PA news agency.

“There is no man better able at setting out a challenging campaign for a fabulous racehorse than John and we look forward to hopefully some good results in the autumn.

“He’s been a star this year and Ombudsman and (Kentucky Derby winner) Sovereignty are out of the real top-drawer. Godolphin have had some good horses down the years but to have these two in the same year is really excellent.”

With Ireland off the agenda and the Arc already discounted, eyes now turn to Ascot on October 18 and the Qipco Champion Stakes, a race that offers the perfect stage for Ombudsman’s next appearance. Beyond that, tantalising options loom large in the Breeders’ Cup and the Japan Cup, a pair of international showcases befitting his burgeoning reputation.

SureWIn

Qipco Champion Stakes
(British Champions Middle Distance) (Group 1)
£1,300,000 guaranteed, 3yo plus, 1m 1f 212y, Class 1
37 entries
Going:

NO. FORM HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY (form as of Sep 03)
1 32-312 Almaqam 4 9-7 Ed Walker
2 151-22 Anmaat 7 9-7 Owen Burrows
3 2-2211 Calandagan 4 9-7 F-H Graffard
4 636-22 Caviar Heights 4 9-7 William Haggas
5 959485 Continuous 5 9-7 A P O'Brien
6 11116- Economics 4 9-7 William Haggas
7 4-1611 Fox Legacy 4 9-7 Andrew Balding
8 6-9152 Goliath 5 9-7 F-H Graffard
9 9-1154 Los Angeles 4 9-7 A P O'Brien
10 1-2121 Ombudsman 4 9-7 John & Thady Gosden
11 10-545 Prague 5 9-7 Dylan Cunha
12 1-1471 Royal Champion 7 9-7 K R Burke
13 673-35 Royal Rhyme 5 9-7 K R Burke
14 111-24 White Birch 5 9-7 John Joseph Murphy
15 17111- Friendly Soul 4 9-4 John & Thady Gosden
16 -51334 See The Fire 4 9-4 Andrew Balding
17 113-27 Tamfana 4 9-4 David Menuisier
18 41-1 Almeric 3 9-3 Andrew Balding
19 11116 Daryz 3 9-3 F-H Graffard
20 -11912 Delacroix 3 9-3 A P O'Brien
21 12-99 Expanded 3 9-3 A P O'Brien
22 1-1 Gethin 3 9-3 Owen Burrows
23 1-1123 Henri Matisse 3 9-3 A P O'Brien
24 138 Jackknife 3 9-3 Roger Varian
25 -21115 Lambourn 3 9-3 A P O'Brien
26 12-316 Mount Kilimanjaro 3 9-3 A P O'Brien
27 111 Nahraan 3 9-3 John & Thady Gosden
28 1-1001 Pride Of Arras 3 9-3 Ralph Beckett
29 1-3211 Saddadd 3 9-3 Roger Varian
30 12-155 Stanhope Gardens 3 9-3 Ralph Beckett
31 312-1 Swagman 3 9-3 A P O'Brien
32 1-6030 The Lion In Winter 3 9-3 A P O'Brien
33 1-4621 Tornado Alert 3 9-3 Saeed bin Suroor
34 21121 Zahrann 3 9-3 J P Murtagh
35 5-6245 Bedtime Story 3 9-0 A P O'Brien
36 1-1111 Minnie Hauk 3 9-0 A P O'Brien
37 -61211 Whirl 3 9-0 A P O'Brien