Champions Day

I cannot see Cirrus being beaten . He was better than ever this spring beating both the Arc 1 and 2 and Olympic Glory ( albeit that horse was clearly running too soon ) and his comeback was good enough . He can swim when many of the others cannot .
 
I'm amazed he is the price he is. I also Can't see the great horse beaten. To have a horse that's run three times, barely tested at top level and on this ground, closing into a similar price against this performer is very surprising
 
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Got to be on integral. Form lines put her close and she syrikes me as a typical stoute improving filly. Only concern is short break but sense shes tough enough
 
I think Cirrus a 10 pounds worse horse than he was on Frankels year but will win today on this ground he loves


Night Of Thunder , best horse in the field and should improve on the ground.


rest of the races too difficult but if force to choose


G Force and Gordon to fight the sprint

and Fanshawe mare to repeat win and Cumanis and Chiquita the main dangers
 
I'm surprised at Charms Spirits price in relation to NOT. The reports suggested NOT was unlucky and would have won in a few more strides. He didnt have a good passage through the race but at the line he wouldn't have won in a few more strides. At the prices I'd rather side with the French horse.

I got on Cirrus earlier in the week with the likely rain and heavy ground, can't believe he now close to 2/1. I'm probably going to have another go although Free Eagle is such an unknown I'm less confident now he's a confirmed runner.
 
EC1 said:
i can't win this tbh..if he gets beat it won't be mentioned again..and it will be any reason bar that he needs further..
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You were right EC, he's a complete boat.


Great race, was shouting for Al Kazeem to be honest but both the front two are laudable adverts for flat racing.
 
aye Euro..i'm a bit bemused tbh that Western Hymn has beaten ROTW & Cirrus..and I still didn't get me place money..great race though...two very brave horses..pleased for Jane Cecil..seeing those colours in the winners enclosure took us back a couple of years
 
Thinking about it a bit more, it's a race full of stories, isn't it, with Noble Mission's transformation from the canine to the lionine. Al Kazeem's re-emergence from stud failure and the future promise of Free Eagle.

Shame the form just falls short of what you'd want from one of the season's championship races. I wonder if maybe the Japanese missed a trick by not coming here from Longchamp.
 
you are letting numbers ruin your enjoyment DO imo...that race between the two horses in the last 2 furlongs is what the game is all about..forget ratings for once...they are only a little part of watching a great race..which that was
 
EC1 said:
you are letting numbers ruin your enjoyment DO imo...that race between the two horses in the last 2 furlongs is what the game is all about..forget ratings for once...they are only a little part of watching a great race..which that was
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Strongly agree with that and it's not as if the race was short of grp one quality
 
EC1 said:
you are letting numbers ruin your enjoyment DO imo...that race between the two horses in the last 2 furlongs is what the game is all about..forget ratings for once...they are only a little part of watching a great race..which that was
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It was largely tongue in cheek, EC1. Watching the race unfold, I forgot any notion that it was below par. I was marvelling at the efforts of the front two.

On the other hand, would it have been half as exciting if Noble Mission wasn't Frankel's brother and carrying the colours? What if it had been Al Kazeem and Ayrad slogging it out?
 
Great to see little bruv do the business. Cracking race. Shame about Cirrus. As feared a 3rd fairly quick run back for ROTW and he also ran no race.
 
Somehow when the head tells you that Champions Day has lots of things wrong with it the Champion Stakes always comes up trumps . Magnificent battle today of a Grundy/Bustino type .

With the exception of perhaps Cirrus being a nose back in third - a marketing dream .

Brilliant ride from Doyle and an excellent training performance to bring him back and freshen him up from his disappointing German run . Al Kazeem's price earlier this wek was an absurd insult considering he was a nose behind ROTW in the Arc and he ran a blinder too .

Cirrus way below form - perhaps that injury in the Coronation Cup has done for him and great promise from Free Eagle .
 
Despite what JG said this week (and hes always worth listening to) i think the debate about the day is pretty dead. Im not sure what the attendance was today but i assume it was good and the racing is working. This has been an unusually wet october down here, especially last week and yet the ground held up. there is no doubt that the top races are being targeted by just about the best around now too

when this day first came about this forum went off its head with "end of the racing world" predictions.
 
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Ardross said:
Somehow when the head tells you that Champions Day has lots of things wrong with it the Champion Stakes always comes up trumps . Magnificent battle today of a Grundy/Bustino type .
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You need to lay off the sherry, Ardross. :p

You get finishes like that pretty much every day of the week and nobody [in their right mind] compares them with Grundy and Bustino. Assuming Al Kazeem was back to his very best those were two 123 animals having a scrap. Montjeu going head to head with Sinndar would maybe qualify for comparison.
 
Desert Orchid said:
You need to lay off the sherry, Ardross. :p

You get finishes like that pretty much every day of the week and nobody [in their right mind] compares them with Grundy and Bustino. Assuming Al Kazeem was back to his very best those were two 123 animals having a scrap. Montjeu going head to head with Sinndar would maybe qualify for comparison.
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123 horses..are Group 1 horses though..if they aren't..what level are they?

you need to get back down to earth DO..we been spoiled since STS came along..we had a good run of proper 130 types...now we back to average fare..then again best horse in world at the trip and ground ran today..and ROTW looked a 130 horse on last years 3rd..so not sure what you want to be honest
 
Finishes like that every day of the week maybe but not with the emotion and stories behind the participants. Fabulous race. Whoever had won would have been brilliant to watch but have to say heart was shouting for Noble Mission. Great ride but maybe ride of the day was Lordan on Gordon Lord Bryon, fantastic timing to come through the gap.
**** up of the day was Hughes on Night Of Thunder. I really don't know how he gets away with it. You can predict to the stride the mess he is going to get in.
 
Desert Orchid said:
You need to lay off the sherry, Ardross. :p

You get finishes like that pretty much every day of the week and nobody [in their right mind] compares them with Grundy and Bustino. Assuming Al Kazeem was back to his very best those were two 123 animals having a scrap. Montjeu going head to head with Sinndar would maybe qualify for comparison.
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it will be interesting to see what speed figure Timeform and yourself gets ..you will be surprised i think DO..i'm pretty conservative but i get a 129 speed figure for Noble Mission today.....which means he is still improving with the headgear and that Al Kazeem is back to his very best

on paper..this is a very strong renewal of this race imo
 
The ground def played a part but the Champion Stakes had the whole crowd roaring during the final two furlongs - two good horses fighting out a finish for a fairy tale ending. Noble Mission has been called all sorts of names (rightly so!) in the past but this year Lady Cecil has found the key to him (or if you want to knock her efforts then let the jockeys take the credit - whatever floats your boat) but this time he showed determination equal to that of Bustino or Grundy - not saying that he is in their class but for sheer guts it matched that day. And then there was Al Kazeem - failed stud and with not a lot to shout about coming back. He could have so easily given up in the final furlong but responded so gamely to all the questions asked of him by George Baker that it was hard NOT to shout for him (had a small flutter on NM).

I had to get back to the winners enclosure to cheer NM in and you can hear from the crowd that he was a very popular winner - https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10152583127093122&id=513223121

Al Kazeem got a tremendous ovation when he got there and also on his way out.

Otherwise it was a dismal day for my bank balance :)
 
Ballydoyle said:
The ground def played a part but the Champion Stakes had the whole crowd roaring during the final two furlongs - two good horses fighting out a finish for a fairy tale ending. Noble Mission has been called all sorts of names (rightly so!) in the past but this year Lady Cecil has found the key to him (or if you want to knock her efforts then let the jockeys take the credit - whatever floats your boat) but this time he showed determination equal to that of Bustino or Grundy - not saying that he is in their class but for sheer guts it matched that day. And then there was Al Kazeem - failed stud and with not a lot to shout about coming back. He could have so easily given up in the final furlong but responded so gamely to all the questions asked of him by George Baker that it was hard NOT to shout for him (had a small flutter on NM).

I had to get back to the winners enclosure to cheer NM in and you can hear from the crowd that he was a very popular winner - https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10152583127093122&id=513223121

Al Kazeem got a tremendous ovation when he got there and also on his way out.

Otherwise it was a dismal day for my bank balance :)
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i think today's race is one of the best Champion stakes of this century now i've looked at the results in earnest..a proper test from the start and and a top time figure is due..i'll wager that Timeform give him a 130 form rating and a speed figure about the same.

a proper race
 
I hope this result gets the credit it deserves - two good horses pulling clear of several G1 winnners. Perhaps this is one of those races that in a few years people will look back at and say what a great race!

Glad we went but couldnt have justified £65 for a ticket - the discount was the only reason we booked. It took nearly half an hour to get out of the car park and up the High Street.
 
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