A BRITISH CHAMPIONS DAY EXTRAVAGANZA

By Graham Potter | Friday, October 16, 2026

When the dust has settled on The Everest race-day, racing enthusiasts can take a brief breather before refocussing and setting themselves up to view an exceptional lineup at Ascot where the British Champions Race-day … the season’s grand finale … brings the curtain down on the British Flat Racing season.

There are only six runners in the lineup for the Qatar Racing Champion Stakes, but numbers are not the name of the game here, where the quality of the field comes in at the highest order to provide a fitting headline act for Britain’s richest race-day.

Calandagan, Ombudsman, Almaqam, Bay City Roller, Devil’s Advocate and Constitution River represent as formidable a lineup as you are likely to find in a contest dripping with class.

Francis-Henri Graffard trained Calandagan, who is defending his Champion Stakes crown after famously accounting for Ombudsman and Almagam in last year’s contest, will be ridden by Christophe Soumillon in the absence of the suspended Michael Barzalona.

Graffard and Barzalona combined to complete back-to-back wins in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe with Daryz two weeks for the Aga Khan Studs ownership. Should Calandagan, who also races in the Aga Kahn Studs colours, seal the Champion Stakes double on Saturday it would be a quite outstanding achievement for the trainer and ownership team.

An earlier Group 1 contest will provide another major point of focus with the Andrew Balding trained Kalpana bidding for a third successive win in the Qatar Racing British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes.

In all, the day features five Group 1 contests … the British Champions Long Distance Cup, the British Champions Sprint Stakes, the British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes, the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and the Champion Stakes, with no less than seven of the world’s top twenty horses in the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings taking part in the day’s action.