The 2018 QIPCO British Champions Series: All the vital statistics

Stradivarius makes it five Champions Series wins in a year with victory on QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot in October. Picture: Racingfotos.com

With 2018 drawing to a close, we look back at all the vital statistics for the 2018 QIPCO British Champions Series? 

£1 million bonus for the connections of Stradivarius, from Weatherbys Hamilton, after his successive wins in four QIPCO British Champions Series races – the Mansionbet Yorkshire Cup, Gold Cup, Qatar Goodwood Cup and Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup.

301,818 aggregate crowd for the five days of Royal Ascot, which featured eight Champions Series races.

£6,913 for anyone who had £1 on the Tricast for the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot. The first three home were 33/1, 20/1 and 10/1.

367 runners – an average of 11 per race.

189 days off before Saxon Warrior won the QIPCO 2000 Guineas. All nine of Aidan O’Brien’s winners of the race have been making their seasonal reappearances.

95.89 seconds for Alpha Centauri to win the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot – smashing the mile course record.

85 runners for Aidan O’Brien – seven winners; 15 others in first three; 12 last to finish.

82 furlongs covered by Stradivarius on his way to becoming only the second horse to win five Champions Series in a season. Frankel was the other, in 2012. He covered 44 furlongs.

66 to one. Billesdon Brook became the biggest priced winner of the QIPCO 1000 Guineas

28 runners for John Gosden – 11 winners; eight others in first three; one last to finish.

16 favourites, or joint-favourites, won. Six were odds-on.

11 (a conservative guess) number of racegoers deafened by Eve Johnson Houghton as she screamed home Accidental Agent in the Queen Anne Stakes. She later apologised to them.

9 lengths back to the third horse home in the QIPCO-sponsored King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Poet’s Word and Crystal Ocean were the pair who pulled clear.

7 different countries with runners: England, Ireland, France, Germany, America, Australia and Czech Republic.

7 days between Saxon Warrior finishing third in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby and second in the Coral-Eclipse.

7 age of Lightning Spear, who gained a first Group 1 in the Qatar Sussex Stakes after being placed in six previous Champions Series races during his career. Alpha Delphini gained his first win at the highest level at the same age in the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes.

7 successes (and flying dismounts) for Frankie Dettori – all aboard favourites.

9 horses won or were placed at 33/1 or bigger. Meanwhile, three odds-on favourites were defeated (Saxon Warrior, Cracksman and Battaash).

6 lengths – the winning margin of Alpha Centauri in the Coronation Stakes.

6 record number of King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes triumphs for Sir Michael Stoute after the win of Poet’s Word. The first had been Shergar in 1981.

6 wins by a neck or less.

5 victories (and no flying dismounts) for Oisin Murphy, who began the year without a domestic Group 1 win to his name.

4 three-year-olds won on QIPCO British Champions Day – Stradivarius, Sands Of Mali, Magical and Roaring Lion. Cracksman prevented a cleansweep for the classic generation by landing the QIPCO Champion Stakes..

4 different nations filled the first four places in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes: Merchant Navy (trained in Ireland); City Light (France); Bound For Nowhere (America); The Tin Man (England).

2 Classic triumphs for Donnacha O’Brien at the age of 19 aboard Saxon Warrior (QIPCO 2000 Guineas) and Forever Together (Investec Oaks). He has since turned 20.

2 grey or roan winners, Alpha Centauri, successful twice, and Roaring Lion, who won three times.

1 Investec Derby winner in the blue silks of Godolphin. Masar helped erase the memory of 33 previous boys in blue being beaten dating back to 1995.

1 sire responsible for four different winners – Galileo (Rhododendron, Forever Together, Kew Gardens and Magical).

1 Stewards’ Enquiry. Connections of Roaring Lion had to sweat before he was confirmed as the winner of the Coral-Eclipse.

1 runner from the Czech Republic. Subway Dancer finished third in the QIPCO Champion Stakes at 66/1.

0 Dead-heats. We are still waiting for one after 280 Champions Series races dating back to 2011.