Trainers Champs Going All The Way

Features | 19^th October 2023

Qipco British Champions Day will be crucial in the Flat trainers’ championship title race

Team Gosden

The father-and-son team of John and Thady Gosden lead the way going into Ascot’s glittering endof-season celebrations but Aidan O’Brien could easily bridge the gap with £4.1million up for grabs across the superb six-race card. Unlike the jockeys’ title race, which ends on Qipco British Champions Day on Saturday October 21, the trainers’ championship runs until the end of the year.

John Gosden is aiming for his sixth title but it would be the first since teaming up with his son Thady in a joint-licence at the start of the 2021 season. Qipco British Champions Day is likely to be as emotional as it is important for the Gosdens with their number one jockey, Frankie Dettori, riding in Britain for the final time at the prestigious meeting. Their powerful Newmarket yard is likely to have a strong team heading to Ascot.

Gold Cup hero Courage Mon Ami, top-class filly Nashwa and Sun Chariot winner Inspiral are all among the entries. Mostahdaf could also attempt to add to his impressive victories in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes and Juddmonte International. He is among the main contenders for the Qipco Champion Stakes. The five-year-old has been one the stars of the season and he has helped the Gosdens top the trainers’ charts.

The Irish Challenge

They will go head to head with Aidan O’Brien. The Irish champion trainer is sure to send a formidable raiding party. Paddington could head up the Ballydoyle team after victories in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, St James’s Palace Stakes, Eclipse Stakes and Sussex Stakes. He could be joined by star stayer Kyprios, smart filly Emily Dickinson and Irish Champion Stakes runner-up Luxembourg.

Despite being based in County Tipperary, Ireland, O’Brien is aiming to win the British trainers’ championship for the seventh time. Paddington has been the star of his raiders sent across the Irish Sea this season, but he has also plundered two of the five British Classics. Auguste Rodin won the greatest of them when giving O’Brien his ninth Derby victory and Continuous was his seventh St Leger win.

All To Play For

The Gosdens got the better of their old rival when Soul Sister beat Savethelastdance in the Oaks at Epsom. They will be hoping to put the title out of O’Brien’s reach on Qipco British Champions Day. If they do, they would become the first joint-licence trainers to win the championship since training partnership were introduced three years ago.

It’s added spice to the great end-of-season festival that is shaping up to be a sensational celebration of British Flat racing.