British Champions Day 2022: Betting Preview
Punters rejoice, British Champions Day 2022 is here! It took a few years to capture the imagination, but now it is firmly established upon the calendar, one of the highlights of the Flat season of horse racing in 2022 promises to be the biggest and best edition yet.
In addition to the wonderful thoroughbreds on display, one of the great things about Champions Day is that there is often value to be gleaned from what are traditionally the most fervent horse racing betting markets of the entire Flat campaign.
Whether you’re a newcomer or a purist, our handy guide details the best approaches to keep in mind when it comes to having a Champions Day bet on horse racing:
*Odds credits to VBET
Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup (1.25)
Champions Day begins with a bang with the longest race on the card. And what a race it promises to be. The two-mile Group 2 has been won for the last two seasons by Trueshan, the likeable stayer from Alan King’s yard.
Hollie Doyle’s partner is back to defend his crown, but he is on something of a retrieval mission, having suffered a shock defeat in the Doncaster Cup last time out. Trueshan will surely get his ideal conditions at Ascot, but he faces a monstrously challenging opponent in KYPRIOS.
Aidan O’Brien’s four-year-old colt has been a revelation since being stepped up to staying trips and is unbeaten in five starts this season – with his victory in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot the obvious highlight.
Kyprios is now the complete package and will surely take an awful lot of catching in the hands of Ryan Moore.
Kyprios
British Champions Day 2022 Odds: 2/1
Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes (2.00) –
From stamina to speed, focus is now placed upon some of the fastest horses in Europe in this Group 1 over six furlongs.
The Sprint Stakes never fails to disappoint, but favourites have a disappointing record in the race and it could once again be ripe for a minor upset.
Enter stage right ART POWER, the fantastic sprinter from Tim Easterby’s yard in North Yorkshire. It remains a minor mystery that the five-year-old grey has yet to win above Group 3 level, but he has rarely had Lady Luck on his side when it matters.
Last season’s Sprint Stakes was a good example as he was drawn in the car park and was always going to be swamped by a high-class field.
Art Power splendidly won the Renaissance Stakes at the Curragh a few weeks ago and arrives at Ascot a much fresher horse than last season. Granted a touch more fortune, he will take an awful lot of pegging back.
Art Power
British Champions Day 2022 Odds 10/1
Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes (2.35)
The jury remains out as to whether or not this race quite captures the imagination of the other Pattern races on Champions Day, but it is invariably a feisty betting heat.
This season’s renewal looks no exception, with a winning selection likely to yield a tidy profit. That could be the case if the money is down for STAY ALERT, who is surely overpriced.
The criminally underrated Hughie Morrison has worked wonders with this three-year-old filly, who is progressing hand over fist. Though no match for Wind Star at Haydock, when the ground was probably too soft for her, she then confirmed her distilled potential with a brilliant victory in a Group 3 at Newbury.
Her winning distance was a neck, but that in no way tells the full story as she suffered an extraordinarily bad journey from pillar to post – and yet still won. There is an awful lot more to come.
Stay Alert
British Champions Day 2022 Odds: 8/1
Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (3.20)
One of the great races of the Flat season this year has added poignancy following the death of the Queen and is sure to evoke many fond memories of Her Majesty for those in attendance at Ascot.
It should be a wonderful spectacle, too, as some of the best milers in the business go to post for the historic Group 1. Inspiral and Aldaary will be popular in the market – and rightly so given their impregnable formlines.
But the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes can often produce an upset, and perhaps MODERN TIMES might be the answer this year. Charlie Appleby’s Group 1-winning son of Dubawi finished second behind the mighty Baaeed in the Sussex Stakes on his penultimate start Glorious Goodwood and rubber-stamped that form with a stunning success in the Woodbine Mile in Canada a few weeks ago.
That form is right up there with the best on offer in this season’s renewal of the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes – and yet he is much bigger in the market than the so-called protagonists.
Modern Times
British Champions Day 2022 Odds: 8/1
Qipco Champion Stakes (4.00)
It’s been a few years, but will we see a genuine superstar win one of the best races of the season? The answer, in all probability, is yes.
BAAEED is a freak of nature. In every definition of the word, he is a true wonderhorse – an unusual machine that could win a King’s Stand Stakes and even a Gold Cup. It’s a great pity that he did not run in the Arc, but Longchamp’s loss is Ascot’s gain as domestic racegoers will watch him in awe for one last time.
Adayar’s presence is fascinating, but it would be one of the greatest upsets in top-class British horseracing if Baaeed did not head off into retirement with another Group 1 in the locker.
Modern Times
British Champions Day 2022 Odds: 1/3
Balmoral Handicap (4.40)
This one-mile heat often feels like a bit of a curate’s egg on such an exemplary card, but it can often be one of the most interesting races.
With so much prize-money up for grabs, the proverbial Group-horse-in-a-handicap cliché seldom feels more prescient when it comes to finding the winner.
That theory makes DUBAI MIRAGE’s claims that much more compelling. The manner in which the five-year-old son of Dubawi hosed up over course and distance in early September was something special – with a 5lb rise in the weights for that victory anything but the end of the world.
Dubai Mirage would not want too much rain in the build-up to Champions Day, but he will have no issues on ground that is on the easier side of goo and has been intentionally kept on ice for this assignment. He could be a cut above.
Dubai Mirage
British Champions Day 2022 Odds: 10/1
*Odds subject to change and were correct at time of publication
(06.10.2022)
18+. Please gamble responsibly. BeGambleAware.org
SAFER GAMBLING MESSAGE.
SET LIMITS ON YOUR GAMBLING.
For support, contact the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or visit www.begambleaware.org. For more information please visit our Safer Gambling Page