As the nights draw in and the Autumn leaves fall, the final official act of the flat season takes place place this weekend at Ascot, as were going out in style with Qipco Champions Day.
With five British Champions contests on Saturday’s glittering slate, the cream of the season’s racing comes together.
In the second of our Champions Day features, we put the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes under the spotlight, and going up against the 11/10f Charyn, can Facteur Cheval finally pick up his maiden UK win?
French fancy
Like in Saturday’s Champion Stakes, there is strong French interest in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.
Making a UK turf debut in last year’s Sussex Stakes, the 4yo was hugely impressive, giving the at-the-time-dominant Paddington, a serious test.
In total, Facteur Cheval has run four times away from French soil, and only a rather disappointing outing with sixth in June’s Queen Anne was the sole blot. Performances aside, the stats still read as winless on UK turf.
🏆 Paddington adds the Qatar Sussex Stakes to his glittering haul of wins this summer!
Six wins on the bounce.
😍 What a horse!#ITVRacing | @Goodwood_Races pic.twitter.com/dRwmqz1tEy
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) August 2, 2023
Third in a second crack at Glorious Goodwood back in August, performances on firmer ground have proved his mettle, but it is on the softer ground where his best trips have been.
In his six career wins, four have been on soft or good to soft ground and once, in the 2022 Prix Perth at Saint Cloud, on heavy turf.
If the weather plays ball on Saturday – and the rain is expected to arrive for the weekend – Facteur Cheval could be in business. Saturday could perhaps be his best chance of a British win yet, doing so at the very top.
Charyn of fire
For Charyn, the 2024 season has been a rousing success, and a third Group 1 success to end the campaign would be the cherry on the cake.
Both Charyn and Facteur Cheval are now familiar foes and this will be the third time they lock horns.
As documented above, Charyn came third in last year’s Sussex Stakes, behind both the latter and Paddington, whilst the Queen Anne Stakes in June saw Roger Varian the victor – Cheval coming home only sixth.
That result is reflected in the markets, but the firmer ground is now a distant memory. Nevertheless, Charyn and Silvestre De Sousa are four from six this year.
Beaten into second last time out in the Prix de Moulin on Arc weekend, that run was on juicier ground, indeed, the 4yo is yet to run on heavy ground in 17 career runs.
If the rain that is promised falls in decent amounts, the ground could yet prove an issue.
A challenge?
Of the other 11 runners still set to line-up at time of writing, Simon and Ed Crisford’s 12/1 hopeful, Quddwah, is another contender with an excellent record in 2024.
Having won his first four career outings, including on a debut appearance at Royal Ascot, the colt’s first defeat was inflicted by, yes, Charyn, in beating the son of Kingman into fourth, but with greater experience on softer ground, can make a better fist of it here.
Meanwhile, Checkandchallenge has just two wins to his name since August 2022, after a rather chequ-ered season, including something of a no-show in the Wolferton.
However, post-gelding, the results have been much improved with a third in the Strensall Stakes at Doncaster, coming here a runner-up to Skellet last month at Sandown.
In the case of this particular 5yo, William Knight has not seen his runner win since the final race of last term at Newmarket, but on that very day, the ground was closer to heavy.
With that considered and his short-term improvement, punters could swing on the side of Checkandchallenge even to place at an inviting 25/1.
The 2024 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes takes place at Ascot as part of Qipco Champions Day on Saturday, race time 3:15pm.
