Qipco Champions Day: John Hunt’s best bets at Ascot’s showpiece meeting on Saturday!

Sky Sports Racing presenter John Hunt is back with six selections on Saturday’s Qipco Champions Day card, all shown live Sky Sports Racing…

We say goodbye to Frankie Dettori as he sets sail for the US and theoretically his best chance will be Kinross in the Qipco British champions sprint stakes (1.50).

However, I’m not so sure Kinross is as strong as last year, and I’d like to take him MILL STREAM who loves the ground and may not yet have reached his peak as a sprinter.

Marco Ghiani has guided Mill Stream to its best days yet, both this season at Deauville, winning at Listed level before taking an impressive victory in the Group 3 Prix De Meautry where the ground was soft and he took Abernant- winner Garrus and Batwan by a wide margin. (who subsequently ran very well in the Prix de l’Abbaye).

Mill Stream has put them there in a few steps and is certainly worth playing another crack at the highest level, with appropriate conditions. Although it is difficult for Marco, it can only be positive that William Buick takes over this assignment.

Jane Chapple-Hyam’s three-year-old last ran in the Haydock Park Sprint and at first glance he was disappointing on Merseyside, but the ground there was faster than ideal and the return to a more testing surface would see him in his element.

Donjuan Triumphant and Sands Of Mali have both won this in recent years and last year’s runner-up (and contender again this year) Run To Freedom was sent off with a huge 150-1. Shocks can happen quite easily here, so I can’t resist SAINT LAWRENCE walk away without support, against what will be enormous odds.

The evidence that he goes deep into the ground is limited, but quite positive. As a youngster he ran well on tough ground in the Horris Hill Stakes and much more recently he had a great race in the Prix Maurice De Gheest.

There he was in last place, the last off the bridle and could very well have won if he had been able to bring his challenge closer to the stands. His overall record at Ascot is also very convincing. Not only did he win the Wokingham in stunning fashion (he was only three behind him, two out), he also finished second in the Pavilion Stakes and ran brilliantly to finish sixth in the 2022 King’s Stand Stakes.

JACKIE OH is a must for me in the Qipco British Mare and Mare Champions (2.25) on her first attempt at a mile and a half.

Visually she looked like she would benefit from 12 furlongs on a few occasions, but especially last time at ParisLongchamp, where she took on the brilliant racemare Blue Rose Cen in the Prix de l’Opera over 10 furlongs.

She refused to wilt on decent ground in Paris, but it is worth remembering that she won her first by going heavy at Naas and looking at a horse in the middle distance. She is by Galileo out of Jacqueline Quest, the first past the post in the 2010 1000 Guineas.

That makes Jackie Oh a full sister to the highly talented Breeders’ Cup winner Line Of Duty and perhaps more importantly a Dubawi half-sister to the seasoned stayer Secret State who won major mile and a half handicap for Godolphin at both Royal Ascot and Goodwood last year.

Jackie Oh will have her eighth run of the year on Saturday, but there is compelling evidence that she is getting better with each run.

Because the ground will probably be very deep for the opening Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup (1.15)I’m going to give THOUSAND BEAUTY the mood because I really feel like the track suits him.

He was of course heavily involved in that riveting Doncaster Cup where Trueshan and Hollie Doyle stole the show, but because of his antics (running out and then going down the middle of the track on his own) I have a feeling Sweet William wasn’t. able to put his best foot forward.

For me he is a horse that will prove best suited to exaggerated holding tactics, and he was simply left too far in front (of his group) at Doncaster. It was still a great run and I’m very encouraged that Gosden wants to give it another try. Remember when he trotted at Goodwood in the Summer Handicap on some of the worst ground we’ve seen on the flat all year. He must like circumstances and can pull off a surprise victory.

I’d like to see it BIG STONE achieve a huge well-deserved big success in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (3.05) and I’m a small bet that he will do that.

He enjoyed a great spring when the highlight was hitting Horizon Dore (on heavy ground) before riding so brilliantly behind Ace Impact in the Prix du Jockey Club.

There is a real possibility that this top-flight three-year-old’s form is now flagging, but I’m backing him to reverse his bouts of ‘seconditis’ this time around.

There was a lot of talk on Saturday about a possible change of tactics with him, but I would prefer to see him try to dominate his field from the start, to try and push some of these top milers out of their comfort zones.

Paddington will do astonishingly well to stay at full strength for yet another top race, while I think this will be one race too many for the brilliant Nashwa.

I’m also up for a daring display MY PROSPERO in the Qipco Champion stake (3.45) who has clearly been trained specifically for the race after a fantastic effort behind Bay Bridge twelve months ago, narrowly beaten into third place.

This will be his fourth appearance at Ascot and in addition to last year’s run, it is worth considering that he could easily have won the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes in 2022, losing dramatically in a three-way picture.

His victory in the preparation race at Goodwood told us little in terms of form, but at least offered strong hope that he could ride on softer ground than he usually encounters.

John’s best bets at Ascot

1.15 ASCOT, SATURDAY – QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS LONG DISTANCE CUP – THOUSAND BEAUTY

1.50 ASCOT, SATURDAY – QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS SPRINT STAKES – MILLSTREAM & SAINT LAWRENCE

2.25 ASCOT, SATURDAY – QIPCO BRITISH CHAMPIONS FILLIES & MARES STAKES – JACKIE OH

3.05 ASCOT, SATURDAY – QUEEN ELIZABETH II STAKES (SPONSORED BY QIPCO) – BIG STONE

3.45 ASCOT, SATURDAY – QIPCO CHAMPION Stakes – MY PROSPERO