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Star Performer of the Weekend
British Champions Day at Ascot closed the curtain on the flat season in the UK on Saturday, with some of the season's best runners on show across the six race card.
The card opened with the Group 2 Long Distance Cup, in which Kyprios rounded off his undefeated season in style when travelling all over his counterparts to win by over two lengths, ahead of Sweet William, who also finished second to Kyprios at Glorious Goodwood. Last year's winner, Trawlerman was unable to repeat the feat and finished three lengths down in third.
Kind Of Blue kept on best in the first Group 1 of the day, the Champions Sprint Stakes. Swingalong looked to get to the front of the field first before Wathnan's Kind Of Blue swept to the front on the outside to steal the lead. The James Fanshawe-trained runner continued to stay on after hitting the front to hold off Swingalong by a head.
The Fillies and Mares Group 1 was up next, and Kalpana was the second winning favourite on the day and Juddmonte's only success on the card. Andrew Balding's filly was always in a prominent position before being ridden to lead inside the final two furlongs and eventually kicked clear of Aidan O'Brien's second string runner, Wingspan, in the closing stages of the race.
Charyn justified favouritism in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winning by two lengths over Facteur Cheval despite hanging left when challenged towards the end of the contest. Silvestre De Sousa kept his mount up to his task and stretched clear on the soft ground when it mattered most, to take home the £650,000 prize money for first.
The richest race on the card followed that, the Champion Stakes, worth over £735,000 to the winner. Calandagan and Economics were subject of most of the pre-race attention, and rightfully so with the pair winning seven races between them so far this season. However, in a race that broke down in a major way with many runners being impeded in one way or another, it was an outsider that put the best performance on the day in to win the race. Anmaat, owned by Shadwell, trained by Owen Burrows and ridden by Coral Racing Ambassador, Jim Crowley, found himself short of room on several occasions during the race but managed to squeeze through a gap in the closing stages to head Calandagan, who also faced adversity on the rail for most of the running.
The Balmoral Handicap closed the card on the day, and it was Carrytheone who scored his sixth career win to bring the curtain down on the flat season at Ascot. Despite struggling for pace out of the stalls, the Michael Bell-trained gelding stayed on well towards the end of the contest to beat out Lattam by two lengths.
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The card opened with the Group 2 Long Distance Cup, in which Kyprios rounded off his undefeated season in style when travelling all over his counterparts to win by over two lengths, ahead of Sweet William, who also finished second to Kyprios at Glorious Goodwood. Last year's winner, Trawlerman was unable to repeat the feat and finished three lengths down in third.
Kind Of Blue kept on best in the first Group 1 of the day, the Champions Sprint Stakes. Swingalong looked to get to the front of the field first before Wathnan's Kind Of Blue swept to the front on the outside to steal the lead. The James Fanshawe-trained runner continued to stay on after hitting the front to hold off Swingalong by a head.
The Fillies and Mares Group 1 was up next, and Kalpana was the second winning favourite on the day and Juddmonte's only success on the card. Andrew Balding's filly was always in a prominent position before being ridden to lead inside the final two furlongs and eventually kicked clear of Aidan O'Brien's second string runner, Wingspan, in the closing stages of the race.
Charyn justified favouritism in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winning by two lengths over Facteur Cheval despite hanging left when challenged towards the end of the contest. Silvestre De Sousa kept his mount up to his task and stretched clear on the soft ground when it mattered most, to take home the £650,000 prize money for first.
The richest race on the card followed that, the Champion Stakes, worth over £735,000 to the winner. Calandagan and Economics were subject of most of the pre-race attention, and rightfully so with the pair winning seven races between them so far this season. However, in a race that broke down in a major way with many runners being impeded in one way or another, it was an outsider that put the best performance on the day in to win the race. Anmaat, owned by Shadwell, trained by Owen Burrows and ridden by Coral Racing Ambassador, Jim Crowley, found himself short of room on several occasions during the race but managed to squeeze through a gap in the closing stages to head Calandagan, who also faced adversity on the rail for most of the running.
The Balmoral Handicap closed the card on the day, and it was Carrytheone who scored his sixth career win to bring the curtain down on the flat season at Ascot. Despite struggling for pace out of the stalls, the Michael Bell-trained gelding stayed on well towards the end of the contest to beat out Lattam by two lengths.
Click TELL US HERE to let us know who your Star Performer of the Weekend was and why!
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