TALK about saving the best for last. Timeform have already billed this year’s Qipco Champion Stakes (4.05) at Ascot as the strongest line-up the race has seen since 2016 (when Almanzor beat Found) and it’s easily a major contender for Europe’s top contest run anywhere in 2025.

With Godolphin, Coolmore and the Aga Khan silks to the fore, bringing together the winners of the 2025 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes, Irish Champion Stakes, Juddmonte International, Eclipse, King George and Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, this has the feel of a season-defining contest in the middle-distance division.

The third-round decider between Ombudsman and Delacroix that we missed out on at the Irish Champions Festival is back on the menu, with the added bonus of French ace Calandagan attempting to atone for last year’s close second in the race as 6/4 favourite.

An unusually dry lead-in to British Champions Day has made this clash possible, and Aidan O’Brien is thankful that the Coolmore team have been willing to roll the dice again with Ballydoyle’s standout three-year-old colt for 2025. Many felt last month’s Leopardstown victory would be the last time we’d get to see the elite son of Dubawi, given his obvious commercial value as a stallion.

“We were delighted with Delacroix at Leopardstown, we went gently from there and had our eye on this race and it was just whether the lads were going to decide to go or not, really,” said O’Brien.

“I’d say if the ground was very soft it might have changed their thinking, but it looks like we’re going to get good ground at this meeting for the first time in a long time. I don’t think the lads were ever going to subject him to that [very testing ground], but they made the decision late, which was the right thing… I think they have to be applauded for that, because it’s their love of racing that’s making them do it, more than a business or commercial decision, and we’re very grateful to them for that.”

Very competitive

He added: “Hopefully it’ll be an evenly-run, fair race for everybody and then we’ll try and get it on and enjoy it and see what’s going to happen... It’s a very good, very competitive race.”

Ombudsman’s rider William Buick is upbeat about the John and Thady Gosden-trained star’s wellbeing ahead of this assignment, having missed the Irish Champion Stakes in an attempt to freshen up for the autumn.

“He’s had a nice rest after York, where he showed everyone what he could do,” said Buick. “I have ridden him at home and he appears to be in great form. I think the likely ground conditions are going to help everybody and it’s a great race to be part of.”

Calandagan’s trainer Francis Graffard is as excited as anyone about the prospect of several middle-distance stars colliding in this £1.4 million highlight.

“I think it’s fantastic for racing to see all of them competing,” said the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe-winning trainer. “At a mile and a half, Calandagan is fantastic but the horse is very fresh, he seems to be very well in himself, so I’m really looking forward to challenging the other two.”

Retrieval mission

There is added spice to the picture with last year’s Irish Champion Stakes hero Economics making his first start in a year, having bled from the nose when sixth in this race on his last appearance.

Speaking to the Nick Luck Daily Podcast, trainer William Haggas said: “He was heading for [Royal] Ascot and then he had a setback about two weeks before and that’s delayed everything. So we’re pleased to get him back.

“We wouldn’t be going anywhere near if we thought that [bursting a blood vessel] was likely to happen, but then, having said that, we didn’t think it would happen at Ascot last year and it did. We don’t know but the ground was very soft - heavy - and it was the end of a long old season. Two and two came to five, we thought.

“He’s a good horse, it would be dangerous to underestimate him, but we’re just concerned that he might not be as sharp as we’d like him. But he’s perfectly ready to run and he’s ready to run a good race. He’s lazy, he’s always been like that, so they’re difficult to get a handle on but we’ve done our best.”

Haggas added: “It’s the best horse in England, the best horse in Ireland and the best horse in France, who are all appearing to run against him, never mind a few others as well, so it’s going to be a strong race.”