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 1 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 amongst the cast of 11.

Speaking on a media call, O’Brien said: “We went gently with Delacroix after the Irish Champion Stakes and had our eye on this race while we waited for the lads to decide whether they wanted to go or not.

“The Eclipse was a normal-run race really, Delacroix just had a lot of things to overcome to win, and he did. York was a bit of a farce, and you would not see that type of race in a small conditions race, let alone a big Group 1 race like that.

“The plan in York was to follow the pacemaker if nobody else was going to, but it did not work out that way. Nobody wanted the race to happen the way it did, but it happened and hopefully Saturday is a properly run race.

“Races like this are what everybody does it for. We all want to see the best horses meeting on the big days, all the time, and the races being as competitive and as fair as possible. Whether it is owners, breeders, spectators, punters, that is what everybody wants.”

O’Brien has 11 runners in total on Qipco British Champions Day, with his team also including Stay True in the upgraded Group 1 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup and The Lion In Winter in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (sponsored by QIPCO).

O’Brien said: “We always felt Stay True was going to be this type of horse, more so for next year, but it is nice to let him compete in these races to get a feel about him for next year. We felt he was not really there when he went to the St Leger – he got a bit tired and we will learn more about him on Saturday.

“The Lion In Winter had a very good run the last day in France. We think he has gone the right way since then, his preparation has gone well, and we are looking forward to seeing what he does on a track like Ascot.”

Proven quality

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.