Countdown to a scintillating 2012 Series is on!

Black Caviar wins the Schweppes Schillaci Stakes at Caulfield in October 2011. Now the Aussie superstar is on course for the QIPCO British Champions Series.  Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

The prospect of the two best horses in the world, Frankel and Black Caviar, dazzling British racegoers this summer…the possible emergence of a new superstar in the Aidan O’Brien-trained Camelot…Nathaniel looking to prove that he’s the real middle distance deal…Fame And Glory attempting to follow further in Yates’s illustrious footsteps…Snow Fairy seeking to continue her remarkable rags to riches story…

The QIPCO British Champions Series showcased the best Flat racing in the world last year and it looks nailed on to do so again in 2012 as the highest rated racehorses on the planet target Britain’s top races.

Keep a note of these hot dates in your diary:

Saturday 5 & Sunday 6 May – the QIPCO Guineas Festival will kickstart the Series on Newmarket’s Rowley Mile, with last season’s joint champion two-year-old, Camelot, a possible contender in the QIPCO 2000 Guineas against the immensely exciting Harbour Watch, and the unbeaten pair of Maybe and Discourse likely to lock horns in the QIPCO 1000 Guineas.

Saturday 19 May – all eyes will be on Newbury for the JLT Lockinge Stakes in which the world’s highest rated horse, Frankel, is expected to make his seasonal reappearance.

Saturday 2 June – Investec Derby Day at Epsom when, whatever he may or may not have achieved over a mile in the Guineas, Camelot is expected to be one of the stars on show in Britain’s biggest mile-and-a-half race.

Tuesday 19 – Saturday 23 June – the incomparable Royal Ascot, the greatest Flat race meeting in the world, when the awesome unbeaten Australian sprinter, Black Caviar, is expected to make her European debut in the King’s Stand Stakes or Diamond Jubilee Stakes; she will look to steal the headlines from Frankel, who is likely to contest the Queen Anne Stakes or the Prince of Wales’s Stakes (in which QIPCO Champion Stakes winner, Cirrus Des Aigles, may look to make it two-out-of-two at Ascot) and from Fame And Glory, who is likely to be back seeking a second Gold Cup victory.    

Saturday 7 July – the Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park, when Frankel may step up to 10 furlongs for the first time.

Saturday 14 July – the Darley July Cup on Newmarket’s July Course, in which Black Caviar is likely to make her final UK appearance before returning Down Under.

Saturday 21 July – the Betfair King George at Ascot, in which Nathaniel will surely be looking to make it two-in-a-row. Might last year’s Arc heroine Danedream be in opposition?

Wednesday 1 August – day two of Glorious Goodwood when there is the small but intriguing possibility that Frankel and Black Caviar could clash over a mile in the QIPCO Sussex Stakes; it would need a change of plan from both sets of connections, but if Frankel appears not to get home over one-and-a-quarter miles and if the Black Caviar team are prepared to step up in trip, this is the one and only race where a clash between the two superstars could potentially happen.

Wednesday 22 August – day one of York’s magnificent Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival, when Frankel is a highly likely contender in the race sponsored by his owner, the Juddmonte International.

Saturday 8 September – the Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock Park, which saw the season’s most pulsating finish to a sprint race in 2011.

Saturday 15 September – the last Classic of the season, the Ladbrokes St Leger, takes place at Doncaster.

Saturday 20 October – the big climax to the Series on QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot, the best day’s racing in the world last year. 

It is going to be a season to whet the appetite of any sports fan and there are lots of other great QIPCO British Champions Series racedays to enjoy as well. Check out the full calendar of dates by clicking here.