What to look out for in the 2016 Series

Minding cruises to success in the Group 1 Dubai Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket. Image courtesy of Racingfotos.com.

2016 is another big year for the QIPCO British Champions Series – it’s our sixth season!

To celebrate ahead of the action kicking off at Newmarket for the QIPCO 2000 Guineas, we take a look at the six things to look out for this season.

Blue a force to be reckoned with

After his runaway performance in the Dubai Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket at the end of last season, Aidan O’Brien’s Air Force Blue drew comparisons with the very best champions to have heralded from Ballydoyle in recent years.

His Group 1 romp on the Rowley Mile, combined with quotes from his trainer suggesting that he was the “best two-year-old he had ever trained”, ensured that he spent the majority of the autumn and winter perched as the short-priced ante post favourite for the 2016 QIPCO 2000 Guineas.

The Newmarket contest has been won by some of O’Brien’s very best, including Camelot, Henrythenavigator and last year’s winner, Gleneagles.

Can Air Force Blue join that illustrious roster of stars in April?

Jack Hobbs set to bowl us away

Runner-up in the Investec Derby and third in the QIPCO Champion Stakes on Champions Day, John Gosden’s Jack Hobbs performed admirably without recording a Group 1 success in 2015.

However, 2016 is set to be different. Now stronger, connections believe that we will see the best of the son of Halling this summer in the middle distance contests.

The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes has been earmarked as a first main target for the Godolphin part-owned colt.

More Marquand magic

With relative inexperience with horses, Tom Marquand was a stylish champion in the race to be crowned Stobart Champion Apprentice in 2015.

This campaign is destined to be an important next step in his development, especially as his main trainer Richard Hannon is not intending to replace Richard Hughes as stable jockey.

The 2016 QIPCO British Champions Series could be where the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year contender shines in the saddle.

Minding the gap

If you thought the ante post betting market for the QIPCO 2000 Guineas market was one-sided, the fillies’ equivalent is pretty much the same.

After a demolition of her rivals in the Group 1 Dubai Fillies’ Mile, Minding finds herself as the 7/2 market leader for the QIPCO 1000 Guineas at Newmarket.

The leading British Classic contender is a daughter of top performer Lillie Langtry. Let’s hope she is as good as her mother!

Simple Verse on song to steal the middle distance limelight

The first filly to win the Ladbrokes St Leger since 1992 and a first champion on Champions Day for Qatar Racing, Simple Verse provided connections with a year to remember – albeit testing at times.

Ralph Beckett’s four-year-old filly is being primed for the middle distance contests this season with the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot is deemed a priority.

Will girl power prevail on the big stages in the Series this year?

Iconic Champions Day status beckons for Solow

QIPCO British Champions Day 2015 was lit up by the brilliance of many stars, but none more so than Queen Elizabeth II Stakes hero, Solow.

Freddy Head’s star miler will be back in 2016 to continue where he left off and he could become only the second horse in history to win twice on Champions Day, the other being Frankel.

With five Group 1 triumphs on his CV, will there be more this season?