As the horse racing flat season draws to an end, a final crescendo is served up at Ascot in the form of Qipco British Champions Day. There are four Group 1 races to get stuck into - we've got competitive fields embedded with both rematches and new eagerly awaited clashes. Here we'll cover the opening race on the card, with a little help from THM Racecards; providing valuable insights as always.
Unsurprisingly, given the time of year, it'll be soft ground at Ascot, conditions not unfamiliar to the majority of the stayers in the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup (13:20). This 2 mile trip on stamina sapping soft ground will be no cake walk to kick off the day's proceedings.
Kyprios (4/6) has been a winning machine all season and naturally has winning form at both Ascot and on soft ground. Regular jockey Ryan Moore takes the ride. THM Jockey stats indicate that Moore is currently boasting a 20% strike rate from 46 rides at Ascot in the last 12 months - the best by far of all the jockeys in this field. There aren't too many chinks in the Kyprios armour; the only nagging doubt is that he was beaten in this race last season after a similarly busy campaign.
Trawlerman (11/2) was the beneficiary that day and returns this year hoping to repeat the feat. On official ratings, Trawlerman (118) is just 2lbs inferior to Kyprios (120) and comes here fresh, so must have a fighting chance. The ground stats raise a question mark for him though; he's never run on soft ground before.
Al Nayyir (5/1) is an intriguing runner who could pose a threat to Kyprios. He's a new addition to the staying division having only joined Tom Clover in the UK recently. He's lacking Ascot experience, but won well last time out at Newmarket, recording an average speed figure 3.50kph faster than the THM Standard Average. Still as a relatively unknown quantity, could he be the fly in the ointment?
We'll see how things unfold later.