THE trainers’ championship is an undercurrent that has been running through the 2026 British flat season for weeks, for months. Aidan O’Brien v Andrew Balding.

It has been a match for a while now, and the oscillations have been really interesting.

From Kalpana’s King George (£1,134,200) and Item’s Juddmonte International (£850,650) to Kalpana’s Yorkshire Oaks (£340,260) and Blue Bolt’s Sun Chariot Stakes (£212,663), Andrew Balding has continued the momentum through to the autumn of the season that rolled through Item’s Dante and the Blue Bolt-Generic-Double Rush of Royal Ascot, and Blue Bolt’s Falmouth Stakes and Item’s York Stakes. It has been a fantastic season for the master of Kingsclere.

But Aidan O’Brien is bidding for a hat-trick of British championships, his ninth in all, which in itself is remarkable, and he is not going to give that up easily.

Of course, his victories in Ireland and France don’t count in the British trainers’ championship – no more than Andrew Balding’s Matron Stakes or Prix Rothschild do – but he has also won the 1000 Guineas and the Derby and the Eclipse and the Goodwood Cup and the Nassau Stakes in Britain. And he had three Group 1 winners at Royal Ascot and three Group 2 winners.

10 of Aidan O’Brien’s Group 1 wins to date this year have been in Britain, which has all contributed to a total prize money haul to date which leaves him on over £8.65 million in the British championship, and within £100,000 of Andrew Balding.

There is £4.35 million in prize money up for grabs on British Champions’ Day at Ascot today, so the manner in which today’s races play out could obviously be a key determinant in the destination of the title.

Remember though, the trainers’ championship does not end today. It may be decided today but the championship runs all the way to December 31st.

Some day

It’s some day in store though. Seven races these days, five of them Group 1s, good ground and some of the match-ups that you wanted to see, headed up by Calandagan v Ombudsman obviously. Throw Almaqam into the mix, and you have the 1-2-3 from last year’s Champion Stakes taking each other on again. And Constitution River and Bay City Roller. It’s a proper Champion Stakes.

Scandinavia’s defection from the Long Distance Cup opens up the race quite a bit. In his absence, his conqueror in the Prix du Cadran at Longchamp last time, Caballo De Mar, is the logical favourite. It can be done, the Cadran/Long Distance Cup double. Trueshan did it, Kyprios did it, but George Scott’s horse had a hard race at Longchamp, and that was just two weeks ago.

And he is three for three at Longchamp, he has put up three of the best performances of his life there, but he is zero for three at Ascot. He is opposable.

Highwayman is a fascinating addition to the race, he was so good in winning the St Leger. But this is a big step up for Joseph O’Brien’s horse, stepping up to two miles and taking on hardened older top-class stayers.

No three-year-old has won this race since Akmal won it in 2009, when it was the Group 3 Jockey Club Cup and run at Newmarket. Five of the eight runners that year were three-year-olds, they occupied the top three positions in the market – the shortest-priced older horse was the seven-year-old Blue Bajan – and members of the classic generation filled the first three places.

There were two three-year-olds in the race last year, and they finished second last and last. There was one three-year-old in the race in 2024, and he finished seventh of the nine runners.

There was one three-year-old too in 2023, and he finished seventh of eight. There were two in 2022, including the St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov, and, again, they finished seventh and eighth of the eight runners. It’s not easy for the classic generation in this race.

Over-priced

Gregory is a big player in the race, and James Doyle has chosen to ride him in front of the other Wathnan horse Opportunity, but that is all factored into Gregory’s odds, and Opportunity looks over-priced, possibly as a consequence.

William Haggas’ horse is best-known as a middle-distance horse, and he was impressive in winning the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes at Royal Ascot in June off a mark of 100.

He probably did well too to win from stall one, usually a disadvantage over a mile and a half at Ascot. The three horses who chased him home raced, respectively, from stalls 17, 20 and 13, and only three of the previous nine winners of that race raced from a stall that was lower than 12. Actually, of the 40 places available in the last 10 renewals of the race, first to fourth each year, just 13 were filled with horses who raced from single-figure draws.

Opportunity stepped back up into Group 3 company next time for the Glorious Stakes at Glorious Goodwood, and he did well to finish second behind Enfjaar. The winner had the run of the race that day, he led at a sedate pace, his finishing speed was over 110% of his overall speed. He quickened from the front and, while Opportunity was prominent from early, he just couldn’t catch him.

Enfjaar hasn’t run again since – he was due to run in the Caulfield Cup early this morning – but the third horse, Al Aasy, Opportunity’s stable companion, has won the Group 2 Grand Prix de Deauville and the Group 3 Cumberland Lodge Stakes since.

Opportunity has run since as well, he ran in the Ebor last time, when he put up a really good performance in finishing third. He had to race well away from the favoured stands rail up the home straight that day, well away from the winner Daiquiri Bay and the runner-up, another owner-companion in Hopewell Bay, another with his sights set on antipodean targets. He meets Daiquiri Bay on 5lb better terms today.

More than that though, you can probably mark him up on the bare form of his Ebor run. It was his first foray beyond a mile and a half, and he saw out the trip well. He could improve again for the step up to two miles.

Fillies & Mares Stakes

Kalpana is obviously the one to beat again in the Fillies & Mares Stakes. Winner of the race in each of the last two years, Andrew Balding’s filly does have to bounce back from defeat in the Arc less than two weeks ago, but it was a similar story last year.

That said, Johanna Walsh might get closer to her than the betting suggests she will. Joseph O’Brien’s filly has almost nine lengths to find with Kalpana on their running in the Yorkshire Oaks, but that obviously wasn’t Johanna Walsh’s running.

It was her first run on the Knavesmire, and some horses just don’t handle the terrain. She is much better judged on the performance that she put up in winning the Irish Oaks at the Curragh in July, when she travelled like the most likely winner from a long way out, and she ran out a seriously impressive winner.

Third-placed filly Sparan Nua added ballast to that form when she ran Kalpana to a short-head in the Yorkshire Oaks.

Johanna Walsh proved that she could operate at Ascot when she finished second to Earth Shot in the Ribblesdale Stakes, over today’s course and distance, in a race in which plenty went wrong for her.

She has raced just six times, she has plenty of scope for further progression, the ground should be perfect.

Recommended:

Opportunity 1.30 Ascot @ 10/1

(generally), 1 point win

Johanna Walsh 2.40 Ascot @ 6/1 (generally), 1 point win