Telescope focused on QIPCO Champion Stakes

Telescope and Ryan Moore come home the comfortable winners of the Great Voltigeur Stakes at York last week – QIPCO British Champions Day now beckons. Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

Telescope has always had a huge home reputation – over the winter he was one of the ante-post favourites for the Investec Derby – but things did not go well in the spring and early summer and he did not make his seasonal debut until mid-July.

In that race at Leicester he bolted up by a massive 24 lengths and just over three weeks later he went for a Group 3 race at Haydock over a mile and a quarter but could only finish second.

Just 11 days later he went to the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival for the Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes where he showed that he is both learning and improving.

He ran out a ready winner of the mile and a half contest, taking the lead two furloungs out and coming home a length and a quarter clear of Foundry.

The Ladbrokes St Leger over one and three-quarter miles had been talked about and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris over a mile and a half was suggested as a possibility, but now the decision has been made – Newmarket’s most exciting three-year-old colt will head for QIPCO British Champions Day and target the richest mile and a quarter race in Europe, the £1.3m QIPCO Champion Stakes.

He might well meet Al Kazeem, winner of the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown Park.

Harry Herbert, who manages the Highclere-owned colt, said: "Sir Michael did not want to run in the Leger and I definitely think it’s the right move and I totally agree with him.

"He’s not certain to get the trip. Sir Michael is not convinced about the trip.

"The Arc is a massively tough race for a three-year-old who is still developing and Sir Michael has always thought he was a horse who had the speed for a mile and a quarter.

"The Champion Stakes is a fantastic race to be aiming at and we feel it’s the only option bearing in mind next year."

Tickets are selling fast for the climax of the season when Dawn Approach and Toronado could clash for the fourth time in the £1m Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.

It was a sell-out last year, so don’t miss your chance to be at QIPCO British Champions Day this year!

Click here to book via the Ascot website.