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The Champion Stakes is never going to be the race it used to be.
Late in the Season, very often the ground is soft and with traveling much easier the Breeders is a much more rewarding alternative.
On paper it was still a very competitive Group 1 and they can’t all have Sea the Stars in them.
Twice Over was always traveling well and looked all over the winner from as far out as the 3 furlong marker…….not bad for a horse I said should be gelded and sent hurdling.
Don’t forget he was one time Derby fav and has run against the best around in most of his races and almost all of them were hard races.
Henry Cecil gave the horse two confidence boosters in bad races and it’s worked a treat.
I don’t know if it was the worst Group 1 of the season but it was an excellent performance from a very good horse on the day.
As someone already pointed out,what else could have run?
Mastercraftsman clearly doesn’t get the trip or was way over the top last time.
Rip Van Winkle’s best trip is definitely a mile and will find 1m2f round an easy US track more to his liking as he would have done Newmarket
PLUS
AOB would have to have been crazy to have gone here with the prize money and prestige that go with the Breeders.
Great training performance by Henry Cecil proving you can’t keep a good man down
Can’t see a problem with the Champion Stakes as and when it is. Yesterday’s race was fine.
Much has been made about there being too many 10f GP1’s and it being too near the Arc and the Breeders Cup to attract the best, but I don’t think there’s any point trying to alter the date whenever it was to be run, it would clash with some other established GP1 for similar horses.
In fact, with the emphasis now on breeding 10f horses (and yesterday’s field was well subscribed), there are clearly enough talented beasts around to muster enough runners for a 10f GP1 at HQ in mid-October.
It’s no good expecting the very top middle-distance runners to participate in EVERY GP1 for which they’re qualified – it ain’t going to happen. Sometimes the Champion will get a truly top-class field, and some times less so. Perhaps if the very best 10f animal was earmarked as a definite runner each year, the field would cut up and we’d end up with a small and uncompetitive field – is that what people want?
There are still enough v. good 10f beasts around to make it a good, competitive Group 1 event.
Worst GP1? Lockinge; Nell Gwyn; St Leger; Ascot Gold Cup…- Total Posts 17716
The St Leger was poor but no worse than the Irish Derby…..take out Fame and Glory and that would be best described as a boat race.
I think you will find that the Dewhurst Stakes is rapidly turning out to be if the last two years are anything to go by…..Although my vote would undoubtedly go to the Matron Stakes!
I think yesterdays’s Champion Stakes was average – not great, not poor.
The problem is more perception as "Champions Day" does not have the "bling" appeal of Arc weekend, Breeders Cup or Hong Kong Day.
Newmarket in October evokes bleak, windswept and an overall feeling of winding down so building up enthusiam is harder (even though it’s a quality card with 2 Gp1s, 3 Gp2s, a Gp3 plus one of our most historic handicaps.
Compare that with the glamour and je nais ce pas of Paris or the razzmatazz and money of the USA (and if at Santa Anita or Gulfstream – sunshine too), or the sheer adventure of Japan or Hong Kong and there is no contest.
The problem is that there are a) too many "borderline" Group 1s and b) an imbalance of what race types are at Group 1. The latter dictated by the breeding industry and the media that demands Group 1s between 6 & 10 furlongs but shuns longer races.
Why have 4 all aged Gp1s at a Mile (Six including Fillies races) and 4 at 10f (plus the Nassau as already highlighted on this thread), yet only 2 12f Gp1s (+ Yorkshire Oaks for fillies) and only the Ascot Gold Cup above that distance (not including 3YO only St Leger)?
I think the following should be demoted:-
Lockinge
Falmouth OR Sun Chariot
Haydock Sprint CupPromote:-
Goodwood Cup to Gp1 (Why is there NO European Gp1 between 1m6f & 2m4f?
promote the Park (Doncaster) Stakes to allow a 7f Group 1To the poster that suggested run the Champion Stakes at 9f. Not a bad idea.
Also with the plethora of mediocore Gp1s (seems to haven doubled in the last 20years worldwide), a new "haute" category is required (not disimilar to the defunct World Series). For this new category the following requirements are:-
– ALL Aged races only (i.e. 3yo+ or 4yo+ depending on the time of year).
– Minimum prize money requirement (some Europen races would need a boost somehow)
– Race is a proven quality Group 1.Therefore suggested races to qualify would for example be:-
SPRINTS:-
Kings Stand
July Cup
L’Abbaye
Sprinters Stakes (Japan)
Golden Shaheen (UAE)
BC Sprint (USA)
Krisflyer Sprint (Singapore)
HK SprintMILE:-
Sussex
Marios
BC Mile (USA)
Woodbine Mile (Can)
HK Mile10F:-
Dubai World Cup
Singapore International
Japan Cup Dirt
BC Classic
York International
Irish Champion Stakes12F:-
King George
Arc
Japan Cup
BC TurfSorry I’m sure theres more, but daughter wants to play!
No way whatsoever should the Goodwood Cup be upgraded. People have to be realistic regarding staying races. Without O’Brien running Yeats and Septimus running in "Cup" races in the past 4 years we would all be talking about how we’ve got the worst stayers ever. The truth is staying races are for those not good enough to win major Group 1 races over shorter. I’m one who believes Yeats just had to run to his 1m 4f form to win 4 Ascot Gold Cups. Schiaparelli was another example of it when he won the Goodwood Cup. These 1m 4f horses that win "Cup" races aren’t all so much better for the longer distance. And even when you look at it from a factual standpoint, I doubt it meets the requirements of the first four averaging an OR of 115 over the past 3 years.
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