Superstar horses set for QIPCO Champion Stakes

Ulysses is one of several superstar names in what promises to be a compelling QIPCO Champion Stakes which is Europe’s most valuable mile and a quarter race and worth £1.3 million.

Sir Michael Stoute is among several top trainers yet to saddle a winner on QIPCO British Champions Day but Ulysses has served him admirably this summer – winning the Coral-Eclipse and Juddmonte International Stakes, plus being placed in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. With a rating of 127, he is officially the highest-rated horse among the five-day entries.

Stoute is also represented by the talented Poet’s Word, who was touched off by Decorated Knight in last month’s QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes.

Cracksman is bidding for his first Group 1 victory, having already won twice in Group 2 company – the Betway Great Voltigeur Stakes and Qatar Prix Niel – by an aggregate of almost ten lengths and is bidding to follow in the hoof prints of his sire, Frankel, who signed off his flawless 14-race career with victory in the QIPCO Champion Stakes in 2012.

Godolphin have enjoyed a fabulous year and Sheikh Mohammed’s operation have the Richard Hannon-trained Barney Roy, the St James’s Palace Stakes winner, who has also been placed in the QIPCO 2000 Guineas, Coral-Eclipse and Juddmonte International.

Aidan O’Brien has left in eight entries, including Highland Reel, who needs no introduction to the sport’s fans, having won six of the 19 Group 1 race he has contested around the world. Highlights have included his Ascot wins in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2016) and Prince of Wales’s Stakes (in June of this year).

WHAT THEY SAY:

John Gosden, trainer of Cracksman:

“He is still maturing and strengthening – he’s bigger and stronger than he’s ever been, 16 or 17 kilos more than when he ran at Epsom in April. There are a couple of factors I’ll watch – the draw is important, and so is the pace.

“We are coming back in distance and are taking on older horses, which is something he hasn’t done before. He’s been running with the three-year-olds only, in two Derbys, and the big Group 2s at York and Chantilly.

“He’s won over a mile and a quarter and is bred to be more of a miler. I think he’s got the pace for it.

“It’s a big challenge but Cracksman is well and it’s a long, quiet winter and he will be about the place walking and trotting. He’s very lively – plenty of playing and rearing up, which is one of his favourite tricks.

“It’s a fabulous race and it’s great to be in it. We are really looking forward to it.”

ENTRIES IN FULL: