John Gosden has confirmed star three-year-olds Mishriff and Palace Pier are set for their respective targets, the Qipco Champions Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, on British Champions Day at Ascot next month.

Ante-post favourite Mishriff tops 42 entries for next month’s Qipco Champion Stakes, with John Gosden having no hesitation in taking on Ghaiyyath if he also lines up at Ascot.

Mishriff is unbeaten in three European starts this term, winning a listed event at Newmarket back in June before going on to land the Prix du Jockey Club and the Guillaume D’Ornano in France on his two subsequent runs.

With connections having ruled out a crack at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for the three-year-old, Gosden is hoping Mishriff can emulate his dual Ascot hero Cracksman, regardless of whether this summer’s star performer Ghaiyyath is in the field.

He said: “Cracksman was a pretty smart horse, winning the Ganay and the Champion Stakes twice, and winding up getting a very, very high rating. Hopefully Mishriff is of a similar level.

“We don’t know yet, of course, who he will meet in the Champion Stakes – but if Ghaiyyath is there he’s there.

“Mishriff has been around the place a bit – having run this year in Saudi Arabia, and then at Newmarket, Chantilly and Deauville – but his races have been quite well spaced, which does no harm, and he’s taken the travelling very well.

“We debated about where to go with him next, but he’s been very happy at a mile and a quarter and we see that as his trip, so the Champion Stakes looks the race for him. His pedigree doesn’t exactly scream any more than that, but if he stays in training perhaps he will.

“That decision will be made a little later, and it will be entirely up to his owner Prince Faisal.”

Gosden has also entered three-time King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Enable – although her primary target is an unprecedented third Arc – Prince of Wales’s hero Lord North, last year’s St Leger winner Logician, and the fillies Mehdaayih, Nazeef and Terebellum.

Charlie Appleby is keeping all options open for Ghaiyyath, who has bagged the Coronation Cup, Eclipse and Juddmonte International in three British outings this summer and is currently the highest-rated horse in the world in the Longines rankings.

Appleby said: “He’s got four options, and they are the Irish Champion Stakes, the Qipco Champion Stakes, the Arc and the Breeder’s Cup. That’s two at a mile and a quarter and two at a mile and a half, and I’d like to think he’d be favourite for any of them bar the Arc.

“He was exceptional at York and has come out of the race very well, but he put in big sectionals at every stage and so we are monitoring him on a daily basis and keeping everybody informed. We don’t have to make a decision quite yet.

“It doesn’t have to be just one of those races either – far from it. It could be Irish Champion and on to the Qipco Champion Stakes or Arc for example. Any combination is possible.”

QEII

Palace Pier is set to bid for champion miler honours next month in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, sponsored by Qipco, at Ascot.

The St James’s Palace Stakes and Prix Jacques le Marois hero is among 39 entries for the Group One on October 17 – which also include 2000 Guineas winner Kameko, Irish 2,000 Guineas counterpart Siskin, last year’s outstanding two-year-old Pinatubo and dual Royal Ascot hero Circus Maximus.

Trainer John Gosden, bidding for a fifth win in the race, has confirmed Palace Pier is on target for Champions Day.

He said: “Palace Pier will go straight to Ascot for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. He took his race at Deauville well, and he’s been in good order since. I don’t think the ground there was ideal for him, but he coped with it.”

Kameko will revert to a mile and bid to repeat the success of owner Qatar Racing’s 2018 champion Roaring Lion.

Trainer Andrew Balding said: “Kameko will go straight to Ascot for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, and then I think the intention is to keep him in training next year.

“He didn’t get home behind Ghaiyyath in the Juddmonte International, but he looked very good again up to a point, and that was in probably the best race run in the world all year and on ground that was probably a little slower than ideal.”

The mile Group 1 is also a strong option for Irish pair Siskin and Circus Maximus, who both may have targets in between now and then.