QIPCO British Champions’ Day builds up to the Qipco Champion Stakes and, regardless of how the day goes, and regardless of how long the build-up is, the wait will surely be worthwhile.

In truth, the season has been building up to this.

Ombudsman and Delacroix have been at it for a while. It started in the Eclipse, when Delacroix came from 369/1 and won.

It continued in the Juddmonte International, when the main body of the field ignored Birr Castle and set their own tepid tempo. Ombudsman grabbed first run and grabbed first prize.

The decider was tentatively cued for Leopardstown last month and, when it didn’t happen, when Ombudsman didn’t make the trip, it looked likely that it would never happen, that we would have to settle for a 1-1 draw, and when is anyone ever happy with a 1-1 draw? You couldn’t have had joint winners of the FA Cup in 1981 or 1982.

And so, here we are, Ascot on British Champions’ Day, the last day of the British flat season, for the jockeys’ championship anyway.

Ten furlongs, goodish ground, fairish track, trueish pace in store. The best horse should win, and that’s all you want from any horse race.

The market says that it’s Ombudsman, but it might not be as straightforward as that. Delacroix put his York defeat behind him at Leopardstown, when his searing turn of foot was in evidence again. He is obviously a hugely important and valuable commodity as a stallion prospect as things stand, an out-cross, a son of Dubawi out of the Bernstein mare Tepin. From a commercial perspective, he doesn’t really need another reputation-enhancing performance.

But Aidan O’Brien and the Coolmore team are stepping into the breach again, which makes you think that they think they can win again. You got the feeling too, in the entertaining preamble to the Irish Champion Stakes, that they really wanted Ombudsman to come to Leopardstown, that they really believed that they could beat him if he did.

He didn’t come, so they have had to go. It’s an away gig for Delacroix, he has to travel, but he had to travel to Sandown, he had to travel to York. Nothing new there.

Calandagan is a big player too, of course, the King George winner, last year’s Champion Stakes runner-up, and that’s what makes the race the race that it is, probably the race of the season, potentially the race of many a season. Economics is a 14/1 shot, and that tells you how strong it it.

If there is an angle from a betting perspective, it probably lies in the 4/1 at which you can back Delacroix. He probably should be closer to Ombudsman than that. But, mainly, this is a race to watch and savour for the contest that it is.

Queen Elizabeth II

Facteur Cheval does look over-priced in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. Winner of the Dubai Turf at Meydan last year, Jerome Reynier’s horse put up a big performance to finish second behind Charyn in this race last year.

Back in the field early on that day, he ceded first run to Roger Varian’s horse and, while he just couldn’t get past him, he pulled four lengths clear of the remainder.

You can argue that this year’s renewal is a stronger renewal, with Field Of Gold and Rosallion and Fallen Angel in there.

Also, Never So Brave has won his last three and Docklands loves Ascot and there is no knowing how good Alakazi could be. It’s a deep and a deeply intriguing race.

Facteur Cheval could only finish sixth in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes the last time we saw him, but that was over 10 furlongs, and he made a rapid mid-race move that took him to the front early in the home straight.

It is not surprising that he weakened from the furlong marker, racing over a distance over which he had never raced before.

It is probable that this race has been his primary objective all season, he goes well at the track, this is his distance, and the fact that Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe hero Mickael Barzalona is back on board is a positive. He could out-run his odds by a fair way.

Champions Sprint

And Kind Of Blue could out-run his odds in the Sprint. James Fanshawe’s horse hasn’t won since he won this race last year, and his season started off fairly inauspiciously, but his last two runs have been very good. It is probable that he has been building up to today too.

Last time in the Sprint Cup at Haydock, he was a little short of room at the two-furlong marker, but he finished off his race well once he got into the clear to get up for second place behind Big Mojo. He should be able to progress again from that, back at Ascot.

He probably has a good draw in stall 18, just one away from where he was last year, and he should get a nice tow into the race from Big Mojo in 20 and Quinault in 15.

A stiff six furlongs on easy ground suits him well and, while James Doyle prefers Lazzat, Daniel Muscutt is a good rider who knows him well.

Lazzat will obviously be a danger if he can bounce back from his Haydock run, but Montassib may be a bigger danger.

He did well to get as close as he got in last year’s renewal, coming from the rear on the far side from his low draw, and he shaped really encouragingly on his only run since, when he kept on well at the end of five furlongs in a Group 3 race at Newbury last month.

King Cuan is a really interesting contender too for Paddy Twomey, and Flora Of Bermuda could out-run her odds, but Kind Of Blue is the bet.

Kind Of Blue, 2.05 Ascot, 6/1

(generally), 1 point win

Facteur Cheval, 3.25 Ascot, 20/1 (generally), 1 point win