Bay Bridge bids for back-to-back QIPCO Champion Stakes wins

Defending champion Bay Bridge has “a great shout” of following in the footsteps of the race’s recent dual winner Cracksman according to Sir Michael Stoute’s assistant James Savage, who reports that he has come out of his sixth place in the Arc really well.

Nine runners have been declared for the afternoon’s premier event, including Betfred Derby runner-up King Of Steel, who will be fancied by many to give Frankie Dettori a perfect send off on his last European ride, and impressive Prince Of Wales’s Stakes and Juddmonte International winner Mostahdaf. There are ground concerns with the latter, but not with Bay Bridge.

Last year Bay Bridge came in under the radar somewhat, since the preliminaries all revolved around Baaeed, who was widely expected to extend his unbeaten run to 11 races. This year’s field arguably has greater depth, but  Savage believes that the Richard Kingscote-ridden five-year-old Bridge has plenty going for him.

He said: “We’ve been very pleased with how Bay Bridge came out of the Arc, which was a tough race on ground that dried out throughout the day. He’s been working well since and he’s in good order.

“He ran well at Longchamp and was only beaten about six lengths, having done a little bit too much in Richard’s hands in the early and middle parts of the race. We are pretty sure he stayed the mile and a half, as he did at Kempton, but you’d have to say that going back to Ascot in conditions we’ve been waiting for all year he’d have a great shout.”

He added: “I think Mostahdaf is a very, very good horse, and so is Horizon Dore, so in my opinion it’s just as strong a race as last year, when conditions favoured us massively. But conditions will hopefully be very much in our favour once again and he’s training very well.”

John Gosden has made no secret of his ground concerns with Mostahdaf, saying that he hated bottomless ground in the Arc last year, but those concerns would be alleviated if the race were to be switched to the Inner Track.

“On better ground Mostahdaf has a great turn of foot,” Gosden said. “I’m very happy with him. He hasn’t run since York obviously but he’s in great nick. He’s had a great year, because he started off in the Middle East, winning the Neon Cup, and then we freshened him up for Royal Ascot, where he won in good style. Then there was another nice break before the Juddmonte, so his races have been nicely spaced. 

“He’s a great character, and he’s always up for it every morning. He’s very playful. If horses had a sense of humour he’d have a very good one. He’s a very buoyant personality and a very positive fellow.” 

French challenger Horizon Dore will be having his first run in a Group 1, but he has gone from strength to strength in Group 2 and Group 3 races at home and has been aimed here for some time, since the domestic calendar in France lacks an equivalent race over a mile and a quarter.

Tremendously impressive in coming from last to first in the Prix Dollar at Longchamp on Arc weekend, he will be ridden again by Mickael Barzalona, who wore the same Gousserie Racing silks when winning this race on Sealiway two years ago.

Pauline Chehboub is racing manager to her family’s Gousserie operation, which is also part owner of Arc winner Ace Impact, and she has spoken of the similarities between the pair, and also of Horizon Dore’s “huge acceleration”. She has no worries regarding the ground.

The gelding will be a first runner in England for former jump jockey and now trainer Patrice Cottier, who has seen a major upturn in his operation since he took over a number of horses formerly handled by Sealiway’s trainer Cedric Rossi, and who gained a first Group 1 success in Longchamp’s Prix Du Moulin the same afternoon that Horizon Dore won the Prix du Prince D’Orange.

In the absence of regular partner Jamie Spencer, who is in Australia at the weekend, three-time champion jockey Oisin Murphy has come in for the plum ride on Via Sistina, who also had the option of the QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares.

The George Boughey-trained mare gained a first Group 1 win in the Pretty Polly Stakes over Saturday’s distance at the Curragh in July and was only just touched off by Mqse De Sevigne in a similar race on very soft ground at Deauville last time. With her sex allowance she looks sure to be competitive in what will be her last race before she heads to Tattersalls.

Boughey could not be happier with her and said: “Although she was in both races this has been the plan for her for a long time. I think ten furlongs is her optimum, and we know that she’s ground-versatile as she won the Pretty Polly on arguably the fastest ground she has ever run on, having previously impressed on soft ground in the Dahlia.

“She looks amazing for this time of year, and her best performances come after a break, which she’s had since Deauville two months ago. Oisin already knows her well, having ridden her work when she was with Joe (Tuite). She’s a very high level performer and Oisin is a very good replacement for Jamie, who has other commitments.” William Haggas has declared both Dubai Honour (James Doyle) and My Prospero (Tom Marquand), both of whom have been placed in the QIPCO Champion Stakes before. My Prospero, as expected, has blinkers for the first time. Aidan O’Brien relies upon Point Lonsdale and Karl Burke runs the fast-improving soft-ground specialist Royal Rhyme.