Progressive Tiffany gives Prescott key QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes contender

Kalpana and Tiffany, two fillies who have made a rapid rise through the ranks this year, headline the QIPCO British Champions Fillies &and Mares, with each making her first appearance in a Group 1. 

Tiffany has been the flagbearer for Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe-winning trainer Sir Mark Prescott and jockey Luke Morris in ticking off Listed, Group 3 and Group 2 wins after stepping up to middle distances this year. Her only defeat came after slipping on the home bend in the Lancashire Oaks and failing to catch Queen Of The Pride, who is among the maximum field of 14 for the £500,000 race.  

Owner-breeders Elite Racing had Soviet Song, who won the first of her five Group 1s in the Fillies’ Mile at Ascot 22 years ago, and racing manager Dan Downie said: “It’s nice to have another top-class filly. This has been Tiffany’s target for a little while. It’s obviously a big step up but she is in good form and has had a good season.” 

Kalpana, a year younger than Tiffany, has strong form in the book, with her Pretty Polly conqueror Friendly Soul subsequently winning the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera at Longchamp. Trainer Andrew Balding said: “She is very talented and in great form but soft ground is an unknown.” 

Juddmonte, owner of Kalpana, has a second bite at the cherry with last year’s seventh Time Lock. Trainer Harry Charlton can forgive her that disappointment and said: “She had a low draw and they didn’t go much pace which didn’t suit her. She was pinned against the rail and didn’t like it. She is a big galloping mare and needs space. I think she is stronger than last year and is in good heart.” 

John and Thady Gosden, who won the race with Breeders’ Cup-bound Emily Upjohn two years ago, rely on Queen Of The Pride, who has family tradition to maintain as a daughter of 2018 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner Roaring Lion and 2015 Fillies and Mares and St Leger heroine Simple Verse. 

Aidan O’Brien saddles two Group 1 winners in Yorkshire Oaks winner and Irish Oaks second Content, who disappointed at Longchamp last time, and Grateful, successful there in the Prix de Royallieu. He also runs the improving Wingspan, who was second in a Group 2 at the Curragh last month. 

War Chimes comes into the race with the joint longest absence to overcome but this has been by design as her trainer David Menuisier explained. “We gave her a break after the Irish Oaks and decided to go straight for the Fillies And Mares,” he said. “She hung that day, but she’d had a busy time, finishing third at Epsom, and she was just a bit tired.” 

The Aga Khan’s Sumiha represents Dermot Weld, who has enjoyed an impressive three wins on Champions Day from only 14 runners. Quantanamera represents leading German trainer Andreas Suborics.