Saturday 20 October 2018 16:39, UK
Cracksman ran away with the QIPCO Champion Stakes at Ascot under Frankie Dettori for the second successive season.
John Gosden completed a treble, after earlier wins for Stradivarius and Roaring Lion, but it Anthony Oppenheimer's four-year-old who proved to be the British Champions Day's most impressive winner.
Dettori made ground wide around the home bend to challenge Capri, who was himself just about to launch a move past Gosden's pacemaker Maverick Wave.
But the race was over in a matter of strides as Cracksman, whose form this season had been in-and-out on faster ground, stormed to the front and put daylight between him and his rivals.
The 5/6 favourite would cruise home six lengths ahead of Crystal Ocean (11/4) by the line with 66/1 outsider Subway Dancer finishing third for Czech handler Zdeno Koplik.
Gosden said: "It is super to have him back. Obviously he liked to get his toe in. He is by Frankel out of a Pivotal mare. Frankel won on any ground, but a Pivotal mare is a bit of a clue.
"Obviously he got very distracted at Royal Ascot by the girls (fillies) coming back in from the Duke of Cambridge.
"We waited for the King George and the ground was too firm, we looked at the Juddmonte International, we freshened him up didn't go to Longchamp (for the Arc) and came here, where he was back to his best.
"I'm a great believer in putting a semi-blinker on as I've had a lot of luck with it down the years and it's a little trick I learned in America.
"He is a hugely talented horse and he showed it again today and I'm sure he will be off to stud now.
"When he's in the zone, he's a very good horse. I would think it quite likely he'll go to stud.
"He's a four-year-old, turning five. He's Frankel's best son and it's good to see him back to his best."
