Roger and Harry Charlton hope Time Lock can secure Group 1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies and Mares

Time Lock has a chance to add a poignant last major win to Roger Charlton’s long and distinguished training career in the Group 1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes on Saturday.
Charlton, who was joined by his son Harry on the Beckhampton stable’s licence last year, is stepping back after 34 years which started with a Derby double in Time Lock’s colours and brought continuing success for the Juddmonte team. Next year it will be just Harry’s name on the licence.
Beckhampton was Juddmonte’s late founder Prince Khalid Abdullah’s choice for his arrival into British racing with Jeremy Tree and he supported Charlton for the rest of his life. Charlton, Tree’s assistant, took over the reins in 1990 and immediately sent out Quest For Fame to win the Derby at Epsom and Sanglamore to win the French Derby. He almost added the Irish Derby the same year with Deploy.
Buick handed key ride on Time Lock
"She's a filly coming into form."
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) October 19, 2023
William Buick is keen on the chances of Time Lock in Saturday's Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes @Ascot… pic.twitter.com/uQtvqTTKtL
Time Lock earned her Group 1 ticket last month with an impressive wide-margin win of the Group 3 Princess Royal at Newmarket, where reopposing Sweet Memories and Running Lion filled the places.
Harry Charlton said: “She is in great form and is on the right path, growing in confidence with her success. It looks very competitive with a big field but she’s in as good form as any of the others at the moment.
“It’s hard to be too confident as the conditions aren’t ideal, but we assume it will be run on the inner track. We’d be going with more confidence if they weren’t looking at so much rain, as good ground would have been ideal, but she handles soft.”
That’s why I can entertain running her again here – she seems in good form
John Gosden is hoping for a quick turnaround in performance from Free Wind after her Arc disappointment and takes heart from stablemate Inspiral, who won a second Prix Jacques Le Marois only 11 days after finishing last in a Sussex Stakes run on ground she didn’t enjoy.
Gosden senior said: “Free Wind found the ground a bit lively in the Arc. Frankie looked after her and that’s one of the great things about him. He’s very quick at knowing when they aren’t enjoying it.
“He wrapped up on her with 400 metres or so to go, and it was the same with Inspiral in the Sussex Stakes. That’s why I can entertain running her again here – she seems in good form.”
Bluestocking, a second Juddmonte runner, brings Classic form into the race, having finished second in the Irish Oaks at the Curragh. She was also placed when unlucky in running in the Ribblesdale at Royal Ascot.
The daughter of Camelot hasn’t finished out of the frame in five races this year but has not won since her debut success in a novice last September. She now wears cheekpieces for the first time.
Trainer Ralph Beckett said: “She’s a proven soft-ground performer. The form of her Chester defeat last time, which on the face of it was disappointing, has worked out better than it looked at the time.”
Poptronic is another filly looking to leave her Arc weekend form behind, with trainer Karl Burke feeling there was an excuse for her disappointing effort in the Prix de Royallieu, where she was behind the reopposing Rue Boissonade.
Burke said: “She has come out of the French race rally well. She was possibly going into season going into that race and didn’t behave well at the start.”
Aidan O’Brien is looking for a third win in the race after Hydrangea and Magical in 2017 and 2018. He left four in at the five-day stage and relies upon Jackie Oh, who ran the top French filly Blue Rose Cen close in the Prix de l’Opera, and Red Riding Hood, a Group 3 winner.
Term Of Endearment, who was supplemented at a cost of £37,500 after her Group 3 win in the Give Thanks Stakes at Cork, and Above The Curve, who had Nashwa and Blue Rose Cen behind her when second to Al Husn in the Qatar Nassau Stakes at Goodwood, add further strength to Ireland’s representation.