Haggas gives strong British Champions Day endorsement

William Haggas is preparing Green Destiny, Dancing Rain and Dafeef for their day in the spotlight.  Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

"Its building into a day none of us will want to miss" is the verdict of Newmarket trainer, William Haggas, in Alan Lee’s article in today’s Times on the subject of QIPCO British Champions Day, the brand new £3m raceday which will take place at Ascot on Saturday 15 October.

"Nobody likes change, but this has got a great sponsor and fantastic prize money," he continues.

"It’s all about money, I’m afraid – you can’t sustain an event like this without it.

"The way British Champions Day is shaping up, I actually think it’s taking a bit away from Arc Day in France, which is no bad thing."

Haggas is set to be three-handed on the day, with Green Destiny, a game winner of the Dubai Duty Free Arc Trial at Newbury on Saturday, tackling the day’s richest race, the £1.3m QIPCO Champion Stakes.

Dancing Rain, winner of both the English and German Oaks, will contest the £250,000 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes, while Dafeef is set to run in the £250,000 QIPCO British Champions Sprint.

Of Green Destiny, whom he describes as a "sporting outsider" for the one-and-a-quarter mile QIPCO Champion Stakes, Haggas said: "We’ve always thought he’d become a good horse, but nobody knows yet quite how good."

Apart from heavyweight stars So You Think and Nathaniel, who will both run in the Arc first, French challenger Cirrus Des Aigles and the Sir Henry Cecil-trained duo of Twice Over and Midday, one horse that Green Destiny could meet at Ascot is Wigmore Hall.

He took the Northern Dancer Turf at Woodbine in Canada last night for trainer Michael Bell under a fine ride from Jamie Spencer and could tackle the QIPCO Champion Stakes next.

To book tickets via Ascot for the big new end-of-season highlight, CLICK HERE.