Allan and Art Power land QIPCO British Champions Sprint at 40/1

A win on QIPCO British Champions Day for Yorkshire!

David Allan and Art Power delivered a 40/1 shock in the QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes for trainer Tim Easterby, beating favourite Kinross by a neck to deny Frankie Dettori a second victory on the day.

Art Power had five Group wins to his name before his arrival at the Berkshire track but you’d be forgiven for not tipping him to win the Group 1 Sprint on Champions Day with his recent form. However, the glorious grey delivered in the King Power colours.

Front-running Art Power raced almost solo before being joined and surpassed by favourite Kinross, who won the race last year, but Allan’s never-say-die attitude helped lift his mount back up to deny Kinross a second successive Sprint victory.

How brave he was at the finish was unreal

It gave jockey David Allan a first Group 1 in the saddle. Speaking to ITV after the race, he said: “I got a bit excited there! I’ve been around a lot of years and didn’t think I was going to get one of these,” he told ITV Racing.

“He had drifted in the betting but we had quite a good chance on that ground, he loves soft ground or heavy ground. How brave he was at the finish was unreal. I was on my own a lot of the race so when we did get a bit of company he dug in there.”

Winning trainer Tim Easterby added: “He’s had a few bad luck stories, but he’s been in the first four nearly every time he’s run here. You can’t knock that. And he’s always run to the line.