Watch all the Champions Day action from Ascot live on Sky Sports Racing from 1pm on Saturday, with the first race at 1.35pm and the QEII Stakes at 3.20pm
Saturday 19 October 2019 15:26, UK
Sky Sports Racing's Freddy Tylicki has analysed the most likely candidates for the prestigious Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on Saturday.
The one-mile is a race steeped deeply in racing folklore and is one of the main attractions on Qipco Champions Day.
The Group 1 contest over the straight mile has been particularly kind to Saeed bin Suroor who saddles Benbatl for this renewal and he has previously won the race on five occasions with Mark Of Esteem (1996), Dubai Millennium (1999), Summoner (2001), Ramonti (2007) and Poet's Voice (2010).
Aidan O'Brien is only one behind the Godolphin trainer with George Washington (2006), Rip Van Winkle (2009), Excelebration (2012) and Minding (2016), and the Ballydoyle genius brings back 2000 Guineas winner Magna Grecia for his first run since finishing fifth in the Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh later in May.
John Gosden matches O'Brien's tally in the race and has taken the past two runnings with Roaring Lion (2018) and Persuasive (2017) and further down the line enjoyed success with Raven's Pass (2008) and Observatory (2000). Gosden looks to King Of Comedy but he would appear to have a mountain to climb with Benbatl on their running in the Joel Stakes at Newmarket.
Freddy Head was another to enjoy back-to-back victories with Charm Spirit (2014) and Solow (2015) and the French challenge this time around is in the hands of Francis Graffard who saddles the likely favourite, The Revenant.
Benbatl is a high-class horse and his trainer Bin Suroor has a superb record in the race. He was coming back from nearly a year off when slamming King Of Comedy five lengths in the Group 2 Shadwell Joel Stakes at Newmarket at the end of September and if that form line rings true then he would be a major threat to all contenders.
He won a Group 1 in Australia last Autumn and went onto be beaten only two lengths by the incomparable Winx in the Cox Plate and he comes here a fresh horse and that could count for something against several who have had long and busy seasons.
The son of Dubawi is a very good horse in his own right, gets ridden very positively and the only worry is that one of his only disappointing performances was on heavy ground at Haydock as a three-year-old.
He is lightly-raced and has only had three starts this season. He lost his maiden tag over an extended mile at Nottingham in April and ran a remarkable race when starting at 66-1 and finishing runner-up, beaten two-and-a-half lengths to Magna Grecia in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket.
King Of Change wasn't seen out again until winning a listed race over a mile at Sandown in September and is stepping back up in class once more.
He is unproven on the ground but then again is by Farrh and a lot of his progeny relish soft ground so he could well be suited by it and he is still unexposed. He is up to 115 now but may not be finished yet and his sire Farrh won the Champions Stakes here in 2013 when beating Cirrus Des Aigles a neck.
King Of Comedy is a little bit unlucky as he has had the misfortune to have bumped into Circus Maximus in the St James's Palace Stakes and then last time out at Newmarket he had to contend with Benbatl in the Joel Stakes.
He ran the race of life of his life in the St James's Palace Stakes but you would be hard pressed to make out a case for him reversing the placings with Benbatl in this race.
The other concern would be the ground as he was beaten at odds-on in a novice race at Redcar as a two-year-old and there will be no hiding place in this race. He is probably a horse who won't find the ground in his favour and has it to do.
He has been a superstar for connections, and he loves the straight mile at Ascot. He finished runner-up to Accidental Agent in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes in 2018 and went one better in the race in June when beating the ill-fated Beat The Bank a neck.
He wasn't disgraced in this race last year either when finishing sixth to Roaring Lion and he has no problem with the ground.
Lord Glitters could be there or thereabouts again, and this race would have been targeted for him since he won the Queen Anne in June.
Circus Maximus would have been my idea of the winner if he had stood his ground and the fact that O'Brien relies on Magna Grecia speaks volumes. He looked an absolute tool of a horse in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on his reappearance when beating King Of Change two-and-a-half lengths and looked like he could take all before him.
He handled easy ground when beating Phoenix Of Spain a head in the Group 1 Futurity Stakes at Doncaster last October and even though he hasn't been seen out since finishing fifth to the same rival in the Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh that wouldn't put you off as he has won first time out a two-year-old and when winning the 2000 Guineas.
However, as we have already saidn O'Brien is a genius and there is no better man for getting one ready on the day and there has been plenty of support in the market for him.
He is the horse that has to be highly respected and if he comes here in the same form and when winning the 2000 Guineas, he is the one they all have to beat.
He was brilliant when making all to beat Too Darn Hot three lengths in the Irish 2000 Guineas at the end of May but has struggled to reach that level of form since.
Phoenix Of Spain ran a creditable race in the St James's Palace Stakes when sixth to Circus Maximus and then Too Darn Hot had few problems reversing the Curragh placing in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood when in sixth place.
It was similar story in the Prix du Moulin at Longchamp in September when he finished fifth to Circus Maximus and it hard to see where he is going to find the form to come out on top here.
He has done nothing but improve this season after being gelded at the end of his three-year-old season and has won his four starts.
His most impressive performance was last time out in the Group 2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein over a mile at Longchamp on Arc weekend and he clearly relished the very soft ground. His trainer Francis Graffard is a rising force in French racing, and he sent Watch Me to Royal Ascot to win the Coronation Stakes and clearly knows the time of day.
He hasn't raced in Group 1 company yet but was giving 2lb to last year's French 2000 Guineas winner Olmedo at Longchamp and we know the ground will suit. He looks short enough in the market but there is no denying that he is a rapidly improving horse.
The winner for me is MAGNA GRECIA. He is a high-class miler and won the 2000 Guineas and if he is in that sort of form then he will take some beating. I think with The Revenant being relatively short I would take him on for win purposes. I can see Lord Glitters being placed and The Revenant would also have to be in the three.
