The Champion Stakes is one of the most prestigious events on the British Flat racing calendar, attracting elite middle-distance performers from across the globe.
Staged at Ascot in October as part of QIPCO British Champions Day, it regularly serves up thrilling clashes between top-level British, French and Irish horses.
With the initial entries for the autumn showpiece revealed, punters are already eyeing up the early market movers—and those looking to back their fancies might be on the hunt for horse racing free bets to maximise their value.
Here, we take a closer look at the leading contenders shaping the ante-post picture for this year’s renewal.
Calandagan
French-raider Calandagan was stunned in this race last year. The Francis-Henri Graffard-trained star was the 6/4 favourite but was held by half-a-length by 40/1 outsider Anmaat.
The four-year-old, owned by the late Aga Khan, was runner-up again on his first two starts of this campaign, including in the Coronation Cup at Epsom when narrowly touched off by Jan Bruegel.
But Calandagan has bounced back emphatically in his last couple of outings, landing the Prix de Saint-Cloud in convincing fashion on home soil before returning to the UK to land the King George.
He’s priced at around 7/4 at this stage to right the wrongs of 12 months ago, and it’s hard to look past him on recent form.
Ombudsman
Unbeaten as a three-year-old last season, winning on all four of his starts for John and Thady Gosden—including at Group 3 level in France—Ombudsman suffered his first career defeat at Sandown on reappearance.
Set off as the 5/4 favourite under Ryan Moore in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown in May, the Godolphin-owned horse appeared to have needed the run following a lengthylay-off against a fresher Almaqam after having very little left in the tank in the closing stages and finishing second.
However, he returned to form at Royal Ascot. The bookies let him go off at 7/1 in the Group 1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes, and that proved generous, as William Buick impressively guided the four-year-old to a two-length win over Anmaat.
Ombudsman then looked to have done enough to follow up in the Eclipse back at Sandown in July, when opening up by about a length from the field in the closing stages. But Delacroix finishes strongly to win by a neck on the line. His consistency over 12 furlongs makes him a big threat.
Anmaat
Anmaat may now be seven years old, but he’s proving that he still has plenty of staying power left in his legs this season.
The Owen Burrows-trained horse was half a length behind Los Angeles in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh on reappearance in May and a credible second to Ombudsman in that aforementioned Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at the Royal Meeting last time.
The form of that effort at Ascot can also be marked up, as the good to firm conditions were certainly not in his favour. If the ground is on the softer side by October, then Anmaat should be bang in the mix against his younger rivals once again.
