This year marks the 10th anniversary of QIPCO British Champions Series, which begins with the QIPCO 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket Racecourse this Saturday 1st May 2021.
QIPCO British Champions Series showcases 35 of the UK’s finest Flat races, including three of the world’s top 10 and last year’s world’s best in the Juddmonte International at York.
QIPCO British Champions Series and Day have, since its inception, borne witness to some of the most memorable performances in British Flat racing history. From Frankel’s mind-blowing showing in the first ever Series race in the 2011 renewal of the QIPCO 2,000 Guineas, to most recently Hollie Doyle making history in 2020 to claim an unforgettable double at QIPCO British Champions Day.
Watch the 10th anniversary video for QIPCO British Champions Series below:
Below we pick out some of the highlights from across the 10 years:
Frankel – 2011 QIPCO 2000 Guineas at Newmarket
The 10 years of the QIPCO British Champion Series could hardly have got off to a more exhilarating start. Just listen to Newmarket commentator Ian Bartlett’s rising sense of incredulity as one of the most spectacular Classic victories any of us is ever likely to witness unfolded before him:
“At halfway Frankel is almost ten lengths clear…. At the bushes Frankel is 15 lengths clear….. Inside the last furlong a horse who is pure class, Frankel has destroyed them from halfway. An amazing performance.”
Incredibly what we saw that day became almost the norm where Frankel was concerned, and by the time he retired – unbeaten in 14 races and the highest rated horse of all time – he had registered a string of similarly sensational QIPCO British Champion Series victories, including two in the Qatar Sussex Stakes and two Royal Ascot winners, as well as others in an Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes, a Juddmonte International, a QEII and finally a QIPCO Champion Stakes.
Photo by Sara Waterson.
Camelot – 2012 Investec Derby at Epsom
The Triple Crown is something of a Holy Grail in racing the world over, and it has not been achieved in Britain since Nijinsky in 1970.
No horse in the 50 years since then has gone closer than Camelot, who failed so narrowly at the final hurdle when Encke got first run on him in the Ladbrokes St Leger. Camelot had earlier been brave over an inadequate distance in the QIPCO 2,000 Guineas and nobody was at all surprised when he justified cramped odds in the Investec Derby with complete authority in the hands of young Joseph O’Brien, winning eased down by five lengths from Main Edition.
For good measure Camelot also won the Irish Derby, just as Nijinsky had.
Photo by Ian Yates www.eyewhy.co.uk
Toronado – 2013 Qatar Sussex Stakes at Goodwood
Richard Hannon Sr. had three top-class three-year-old milers in his final season with a licence. Sky Lantern won the QIPCO 1,000 Guineas and the Kingdom Of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes and Olympic Glory ended the year with a deserved Group 1 win in the QEII Stakes, but pride of place went to Toronado for that memorable defeat of 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes hero Dawn Approach in Goodwood’s Qatar Sussex Stakes.
It was the pair’s third meeting of the year and it well and truly lived up to its inevitable billing as the ‘Duel on the Downs’, Toronado being delivered late and wide by Goodwood’s master tactician Richard Hughes after Dawn Approach had been committed first. Toronado had to work hard to get upsides, but he edged ahead well inside the final furlong and was firmly on top at the line.
Photo courtesy of QIPCO British Champions Series.
Kingman – 2014 St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot
There was unfinished business to settle when Kingman met Night Of Thunder in the St James’s Palace Stakes. It had been a tactically unsatisfactory QIPCO 2,000 Guineas in which the Richard Hannon colt, who had been trounced by Kingman in the Greenham, had caused a 40/1 upset by beating him half a length, and while Night Of Thunder was plainly a high-class miler Kingman’s subsequent easy win in the Irish equivalent had underlined the sense of injustice some had felt after Newmarket.
The rematch on Ascot’s round mile settled matters once and for all, for Kingman showed a devastating change of gear to win as he pleased. Subsequent wins in the Qatar Sussex Stakes and Prix Jacques Le Marois confirmed him a miler of the very highest class.
Photo courtesy of QIPCO British Champions Series.
Golden Horn – 2015 Coral-Eclipse at Sandown Park
Frankie Dettori faced a different tactical challenge when the Investec Derby winner went on to Sandown Park, and in the absence of an obvious pacemaker he felt obliged to make the running himself.
It was clear he had a battle on his hands when Jamie Spencer moved The Grey Gatsby upsides him starting up the straight, seemingly going every bit as well, and for the best part of three furlongs there was very little in it. However, Golden Horn began to assert at last approaching the furlong marker, and he ultimately drew clear.
He didn’t run in the King George owing to ground concerns and at York he suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Arabian Queen, but later wins in the Irish Champion Stakes and the Arc confirmed him a middle-distance colt from the very top drawer.
Photo by Rachel Groom.
Minding – 2016 Investec Oaks at Epsom
Superstar filly Minding lit up the 2016 Series with wins bookending the season in the QIPCO 1,000 Guineas and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (sponsored by QIPCO), however it was her win in the Investec Oaks that will go down as one of her most memorable.
It wasn’t the distance of the win, but more the nature of the win that was most impressive. Travelling in midfield, Minding encountered numerous traffic problems after rounding Tattenham Corner and found herself shuffled back to the rear of the field. Remaining cool, jockey Ryan Moore found a gap and asked the three-year-old filly to pick up. Pick up she did, eating into the ground she had lost, eventually overhauling runaway leader, Architecture by 1 ¾ lengths at the line.
Photo courtesy of Epsom Racecourse.
Harry Angel – 2017 32Red Sprint Cup at Haydock Park
The weather leading up to the 2017 32Red Sprint Cup was so wet that the Haydock authorities took the unusual step of bringing the race forward on the card to ensure that it wasn’t run on the very worst of the ground. The Darley July Cup winner’s participation remained in some doubt nevertheless, as he had broken the track record at Haydock earlier in the year and clearly relished fast ground, but his connections’ decision to let him take his chance was gloriously rewarded with a stunning four-length defeat of Tasleet, after making all. It was rated the best sprint performance in the world that year.
Photo courtesy of Haydock Park Racecourse.
Roaring Lion – 2018 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (sponsored by QIPCO) at QIPCO British Champions Day
A fitting end to what had been a fantastic 2018 for Qatar Racing’s leading light. Roaring Lion had been a not-far-beaten fifth in the QIPCO 2,000 Guineas, before an even bigger run to finish third in the Investec Derby, but truly never looked back from there.
Victories in the Coral-Eclipse, Juddmonte International and Irish Champion Stakes before a gutsy performance in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (sponsored by QIPCO) rounded off a truly golden summer for both the horse and his young pilot Oisin Murphy. On ground not to his liking, the son of Kitten’s Joy gamely fought his way to the front late on to secure a thoroughly deserved victory.
Photo courtesy of QIPCO British Champions Series.
Enable – 2019 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes at Ascot
Enable might have failed in her bid to become the first three-time winner of the Arc, but she stands alone as the only horse to win the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes three times.
She was impressive when following her Investec Oaks and Irish Oaks wins by storming home four and a half lengths clear of the older Ulysses as a three-year-old, and she won by an even wider margin from Sovereign in a three-runner renewal as a six-year-old, but it’s her neck defeat of Crystal Ocean in 2019 that is likely to linger longest in the memory.
Both horses arrived at Ascot following recent defeats of Magical and a classic head-to-head between two outstanding middle-distance horses was a mouth-watering proposition. We weren’t disappointed either, as they had a tremendous duel before Enable just got the better of the argument in the last 100 yards.
Photo courtesy of Ascot Racecourse.
Ghaiyyath – 2020 Juddmonte International Stakes at York
Ghaiyyath’s Coral-Eclipse defeat of Enable was among the highlights of 2020, but he looked even better at York the following month in the Juddmonte International. In what was a small but highly select field, he made every yard in his usual free-going style and came home in style up the middle of the track to score by three lengths and more from rivals as distinguished as Magical, Lord North and Kameko, none of whom ever quite threatened to get on terms. It was a fabulous performance and one that saw him recognised as the clear number one in the Longines World’s Best Racehorses Rankings, rated 130.
Photo courtesy of QIPCO British Champions Series.
Karen can usually be found glued to her computer or at the stables. Having edited several national magazines she co-founded Eclipse Magazine in 2008 after realising that many of her friends were nervous about going racing due to lack of information – what to wear, how to bet etc.
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