British Champions Day: Ombudsman and Delacroix set for round three in Champion Stakes at Ascot
Declarations for 2025 Qipco British Champions Day have been announced, with Ombudsman and Delacroix set to meet for a third and final time in the feature Champion Stakes.
Thursday 16 October 2025 14:01, UK
The trilogy of the Ombudsman and Delacroix rivalry will take place at Ascot on Saturday after both were declared for a mouthwatering Qipco Champion Stakes.
The former will be returning to the scene of his dazzling Prince of Wales's Stakes triumph at Royal Ascot and has since struck gold in the Juddmonte International, where he levelled the score with Delacroix after Aidan O'Brien's star son of Dubawi flew home late to deny John and Thady Gosden's four-year-old in the Coral-Eclipse.
Delacroix has since produced a spellbinding display to add to his own Group One haul on home soil in the Irish Champion Stakes and will now bid to become only the seventh horse to complete the Anglo-Irish Champion Stakes double.
The Gosden operation have also declared Devil's Advocate, who was added to the field on Monday to undertake pacemaking duties for Ombudsman, while similar comments apply to Delacroix's stablemate Mount Kilimanjaro, who is also among the cast of 11.
- Cobden passes 1,000 winners milestone at Market Rasen
- What a squad! | Willie Mullins' 2025/26 older horses stable tour
There is proven quality right through the field, with Francis-Henri Graffard's Calandagan returning to the scene of his King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes triumph and bidding to go one better than his second to Anmaat in this contest 12 months ago.
The French team will also be represented by Andre Fabre's supplemented Prix Dollar scorer First Look.
Economics will make a belated first appearance since finishing sixth as a 2-1 shot for this race 12 months ago, while Ed Walker bypassed the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe with his stable star Almaqam in favour of taking in this contest.
Andrew Balding will saddle both the improving Almeric, who is fresh from a stylish victory at Ayr, and Fox Legacy, who was equally impressive in a conditions event during the Qatar Goodwood Festival.
The line-up is completed by Dylan Cunha's Prague, who tries 10 furlongs for the first time since the first two starts of his career.
Three-time Group 1 winner Fallen Angel faces Field Of Gold in QEII
A bumper field of 16 has assembled for the final Group One of the European season over a mile, including Karl Burke's Fallen Angel. The Wathnan-owned filly arrives at Qipco British Champions Day at the peak of her powers, having made it three straight Group One triumphs in the Sun Chariot Stakes earlier this month.
Burke told Sky Sports Racing: "Her last three performances have been exceptional really and I haven't seen a lot of her over the last 10 days or so as I've been at the sales, but she looked in great shape when I saw her this morning.
"You would have to say her last run in the Sun Chariot was very good, really exciting and she drew away from a good field. I know Andrew Balding thinks a lot of the second (Blue Bolt) and the third (Cinderella's Dream) was a dual Group One winner herself, so that I think that was the best visually of her three wins, even though all three were very good."
Although conditions were deemed too quick for Fallen Angel when she appeared at the Royal meeting, Burke has no concerns this time around ahead of a race that will see John and Thady Gosden's Field Of Gold make his eagerly-awaited return having not been seen since finishing lame in the Sussex Stakes.
Like Fallen Angel, Andrew Balding's City of York Stakes hero Never So Brave is another with a winning streak to protect, with the Kingsclere handler also saddling Park Stakes winner Marvelman, who will wear the colours of new owners Bond Thoroughbred Limited for the first time.
Luckless so far this term, Rosallion is set to run once again for Richard Hannon alongside French raider Facteur Cheval.
Harry Eustace's Queen Anne Stakes scorer Docklands will once again be an ever-present in the top races over the straight mile at this venue, whilst Aidan O'Brien is set to send The Lion In Winter, Exactly and January into battle.
Trawlerman headlines Long Distance Cup field
Burke will also hold claims in the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup where his recent course winner Al Qareem will challenge Gold Cup hero Trawlerman, who will be of warm order to regain the title he won in 2023 having surrendered the crown to Kyprios 12 months ago.
A field of five includes Trawlerman's Gosden-trained stablemate Sweet William, fresh from Doncaster Cup success, and the pair of Stay True and Saratoga from Ballydoyle.
A maximum field of 20 will line up for the Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes and last year's winning owners Wathnan Racing are mob-handed, with Jerome Reynier's Royal Ascot winner Lazzat, Balding's Flora Of Bermuda and James Fanshawe's defending champion Kind Of Blue all donning the old gold and peacock blue.
Mick Appleby's Haydock Sprint Cup winner Big Mojo is reunited with Tom Marquand and is another leading name, while William Haggas' Montassib was fifth in this last season and will try to better that result after an encouraging comeback at Newbury.
Kalpana will make a swift return to the track to defend the Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes title she won 12 months ago after finishing seventh in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe recently.
She will face the likes of David O'Meara's Estrange, who missed out on a trip to ParisLongchamp after a dirty scope during the week of the Arc, and Owen Burrows' Lillie Langtry winner Waardah, who has had this race as her target since finding the scoresheet at Goodwood.
The first-ever running of the Qipco British Champions Day Two-Year-Old Conditions Stakes will see 13 head to post headed by Charlie Appleby's Mill Reef hero Words Of Truth, while Native Warrior will search for a famous course hat-trick when a full field compete in the concluding Balmoral Handicap.
