Al Wukair and Brametot primed for Champions Day

Last year’s QIPCO Champion Stakes winning trainer, Jean-Claude Rouget has his French Derby winner, Brametot, primed for Saturday’s £1.3 million contest at Ascot with connections relishing the prospect of a drop back in trip, as they seek to win back-to-back renewals of Europe’s richest mile and a quarter race.

Rupert Pritchard-Gordon, Racing Manager for Al Shaqab in France said, “Brametot did his last piece of work on Monday morning in Deauville and all the signs are good. He looks like he’s taken the Arc very well and I think a truly run mile and a quarter will really suit him. He comes into the race relatively fresh having only run twice since June and everything points to a good performance.

“Whether he’s good enough to beat the likes of Ulysses and Cracksman we don’t know, but if he repeats his form then he has a solid chance. He’s got such a fantastic turn of foot and is so tough and honest that we felt if he came out of the Arc well then this would be the ideal race. He’s already a dual Classic winner, and we’re hoping he can finish on another high.”

French-trained horses have enjoyed significant success on QIPCO British Champions Day with four winners to date, though a first success on the day still eludes masterful French trainer, Andre Fabre. He fields Al Wukair in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (sponsored by QIPCO) and Pritchard-Gordon reported,

“Andre Fabre is very pleased with Al Wukair and this has always been the plan to keep him fresh in view to the QEII. He had a racecourse gallop at Maisons-Laffitte a couple of weeks ago to keep him ticking over and we were thrilled with him. He’s a horse that runs well fresh and the straight mile really suits him, so we were always going to wait.

“This is likely to be his last race before retiring, and a Marois-QEII double would be a fantastic way to go out. We know Ribchester’s going to be a tough nut to crack and we respect him enormously and Beat The Bank looks like a real improver, but our horse has a little bit of brilliance as well.”

Other French raiders looking to cement their names at QIPCO British Champions Day include Bateel, one of the stand-out names in the £600,000 QIPCO British Champion Fillies and Mares Stakes.

Her trainer Francis Graffard said, “This was a very obvious race for Bateel after winning the Vermeille. I’m very glad that we weren’t tempted by the Arc, as this has given her a nice bit of time to recover.

“She’s in just as good a form as before that race, and now I don’t feel any pressure. She’s a filly that has her own character, but she has not stopped progressing since she joined us. I am hopeful that she will put up a very good performance as we also know she goes well on soft ground, and fingers crossed she doesn’t find one too good!”

Carlos Laffon-Parias, fields two horses on the day and said of Left Hand, one of 14 up against Bateel, “She has everything going for her in this race, the distance and the ground. She’s been very consistent this season without winning as she was unlucky in the Prix Jean Romanet, which for me she won on moral, and again in the Opera last time. I’m confident of her putting up a very good performance.”

Laffon-Parias has also targeted Recoletos at the QIPCO Champion Stakes and said, “This has been the aim for him for a while, because we know that he will also like the ground and this is his best distance. After the Jockey Club I gave him a break and he made a disappointing comeback at Deauville because I didn’t have him fit enough. He won his latest start nicely and comes here fresh. Of course we know that it will be a tough race, but he has shown that he is amongst the best three-year-olds in France, and we want to see how he performs against the British and Irish.”

Four horses based in France have already scored on QIPCO British Champions Day since its inception in 2011 with Cirrus Des Aigles, capturing the QIPCO Champion Stakes in 2011; Freddy Head claiming back-to-back wins in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (sponsored by QIPCO) courtesy of Charm Spirit and Solow in 2014 and 2015 respectively and Alamanzor who swooped to win the QIPCO Champion Stakes last year for Jean-Claude Rouget.