The Queen to attend QIPCO British Champions Day

The Queen at Royal Ascot in June.  Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

Ascot Racecourse has announced today that Her Majesty The Queen will be attending the inaugural QIPCO British Champions Day on Saturday, 15th October.

QIPCO British Champions Day will be the most valuable raceday ever run in the UK with £3 million in prize money on offer and the race named in Her Majesty’s honour, “The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes", will be by far the highest value mile race ever run in Europe with £1m in prize money.

The Queen has graciously consented to present the trophy to the winning connections after that race and most people will be expecting the recipients to be those associated with the mighty Frankel, who will be bidding to extend his unbeaten career record to nine races.

Owned by Prince Khalid Abdulla, trained by Sir Henry Cecil and ridden by Tom Queally, Frankel is the highest-rated horse in the world this year and one of the best of the modern era, perhaps with the potential to be the best of them all.

He has won three QIPCO Britsh Champions Series Mile races, the most recent of which was a five length triumph over the now retired Canford Cliffs in the QIPCO Sussex Stakes at Goodwood.

He opened the Series at Newmarket on 30 April with possibly the most devastating piece of front running the 2000 Guineas has ever witnessed, winning by six lengths.

His three-quarter length victory in the St James’s Palace Stakes was less impressive (though the burst of speed which took him six lengths clear with a quarter mile to run was not!), but he silenced the doubters at Goodwood when beating with ease the horse that had won the other two Mile races in the Series.

"We are lucky enough to have the best Flat racing in the world in Britain and this brand new day provides a wonderful opportunity to celebrate all that’s special about the sport in this country, with Frankel set to be the undoubted equine star of the show," said Rod Stret, Chief Executive of British Champions Series Ltd.