The horse on the right track for Champions Day glory

Lord Glitters confirmed his liking for Ascot in June. Photo: Racingfotos.com

There are plenty of horses set to run on QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday with a course win or two to their name.

But which are the contenders who really excel at the Berkshire venue? We suggest five who are definitely ion the right track to shine.

CAPE BYRON

Race: Qipco British Champions Sprint

Form at Ascot: 1027111. Odds: 8/1

The Roger Varian-trained five-year-old has contested three competitive handicaps at Ascot this year and won every time, beating an aggregate of 59 rivals.

Cape Byron won the Tote Victoria Cup in May; Wokingham in June; and this month the John Guest Racing Bengough Stakes. He also won at the track in 2017, and two of his Ascot wins have been achieved on soft ground.

THE TIN MAN

Race:Race: Qipco British Champions Sprint

Form at Ascot: 148115476. Odds: 10/1

The Tin Man has been beaten in his past four races at Ascot but he’s won two Group 1 races at the course and been fourth in two more.

He has run in the past four renewals of the Qipco British Champions Sprint, winning in 2016. The following summer he returned to land the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at the Royal Meeting.

Effective on all going, he seems sure to again run well after being second in the Betfair Sprint Cup last time.

CORONET

Race: Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares or QIPCO Champion Stakes

Form at Ascot: 1332. Odds: 7/1 and 14/1

Coronet has run in three Group 1 races at Ascot and made the frame each time.

She was third in an epic King George in 2017 and returned at the end of the year to fill the same place in the Fillies & Mares.

Twelve months she returned to beat all bar Magical in the same race. And before all that she won the Ribblesdale Stake there in 2017.

She’s won successive Group 1 prizes in France on her past two starts.

STRADIVARIUS

Race: Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup

Form at Ascot: 13111. Odds: 4/6

It is fair to say that supreme stayer Stradivarius is brilliant wherever he runs.

He won the Queen’s Vase in 2017 on his first visit to the track and at the end of that year was a fine third to Order Of St George in the Long Distance Cup.

Last year, he returned to Ascot to land the Gold Cup and Long Distance Cup, and this year he is on track to repeat the feat after retaining his Gold Cup crown – part of a ten-race win sequence.

LORD GLITTERS

Race: Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (sponsored by QIPCO)

Form at Ascot: 212261. Odds: 8/1

David O’Meara’s flagbearer was a big eye-catcher when runner-up on at Ascot his British debut and then, a fortnight later, returned to come from last to first in the Balmoral Handicap on QIPCO British Champions Day.

The following year he was a half-length runner-up to Accidental Agent in the Queen Anne at the Royal Meeting before being beaten a neck by Beat The Bank in the Summer Mile. He ended the year by finishing sixth in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes before returning this summer to go one better in the Queen Anne.