Fabre and De Kock targeting stars at QIPCO British Champions Day

Intello wins the Feilden Stakes at Newmarket in April and subsequently stormed to victory in the French Derby at Chantilly in June. Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

The £1m Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, Europe’s richest mile race, is threatening to steal the headlines with the possibility of a final showdown between Dawn Approach and Toronado, with a host of other stars likes Maxios and Gordon Lord Byron in there as well, but the £1.3m QIPCO Champion Stakes is brewing up very nicely at the same time.

As Britain’s richest raceday at Ascot on Saturday 19th October gets ever closer, French champion trainer Andre Fabre and South African champion Mike De Kock are both readying challengers for Europe’s richest mile and a quarter race.

Fabre, who could run either the French Derby hero, Intello, or the Prix Eugene Adam winner, Triple Threat, said: ““Intello runs in the Prix du Prince d’Orange [over 1m 2f] on Saturday and a decision will be made after that race between running in the Arc and the Champion Stakes.

“The question is if he will stay a mile and a half and his pedigree does hint that it might be a problem. Hopefully we will know more after Saturday.

“I may have a runner in the Champion Stakes regardless as Triple Threat could well run. It looked like he did not stay the mile and a half in the Prix Niel last Sunday.”

De Kock is hoping to be triple-handed on QIPCO British Champions Day with The Apache, who had the Arlington Million taken off him in the stewards’ room, on target for the QIPCO Champion Stakes, Soft Falling Rain for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Igugu for the £500,000 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes.

Steve Jell, Mike De Kock’s Newmarket-based assistant, said: “Ascot is first and foremost in our thoughts for The Apache.

“We gave him an easy time after the Arlington Million, but he is the type of horse who does well off the training track and we are very pleased with him.

“The Queen Elizabeth II over the straight mile has always been the long term plan for Soft Falling Rain. He will run beforehand in the Joel Stakes [at Newmarket] on the 27th.

“He had a long break before his second place in the Hungerford Stakes so he needed the race. He was beaten by a decent horse [Gregorian] and we were not upset at all by that defeat.

“Igugu was in season for the whole of her Dubai campaign and then again during the two months of hot weather in Newmarket.

“She is better now and we might start her off in a one mile Listed race on the same day as the Joel Stakes.

“We then have the British Champions Fillies and Mares Stakes in mind for her.

"It is over a mile and a half but that should not be a problem as she won the Oaks over further than that back home in South Africa.”