France take the Queen Elizabeth II with a blitzing performance from Big Rock

Many French horses have come to QIPCO British Champions Day and many have conquered, with Sealiway (2021) the last victor to succeed on these shores, and today was one of those days.

Christopher Head’s Big Rock demolished the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (sponsored by QIPCO) to lead home a 1-2 for France, with 14/1 shot Facteur Cheval chasing him home. Ridden by Aurelien Lemaitre, Big Rock set a blistering pace to the field, which was littered with Group 1 stars including Paddington, Tahiyra and Chaldean.

Chris Hayes and Tahiyra were the first to break from the pack to go in pursuit of the French raider but his stride never looked like shortening sufficiently. Her bid was in vein second close home by another French challenger Facteur Cheval, second to Paddington in the Sussex Stakes, as the likes of Paddington and Nashwa failed to land a blow.

It was a first Group 1 success for the horse who had finished runner-up on his last three occasions all in Group 1 company, being behind Ace Impact in the Prix du Jockey Club and Inspiral in the Jacques le Marois in August. 

What a horse

“It’s very amazing to win today, he’s an unbelievable horse,” said Lemaitre. “We went a very good pace and he loved the ground. He’s very strong and galloped easily in front.” 

The delighted trainer added: “He was tremendous. Big Rock always does this – it’s crazy! What a horse, what a season. He’s really doing very well on that type of ground, but that was impressive, very impressive. What a horse!

“It’s incredible, this horse is really impressive and I’m really happy for the owner because he has done tremendous work with the breeding and this horse is the pinnacle of the breeding system.