Crackman romps to emphatic British Champion Stakes victory at Ascot

Jockey Frankie Dettori surged clear on the race favourite to win by six lengths from Sir Michael Stoute’s Crystal Ocean in second, with outsider Subway Dancer third.

Gosden also triumphed with Roaring Lion in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Stradivarius in the day’s opening race to make it a memorable hat-trick of victories on the richest race day in the British horseracing calendar.

The feature race, the Group 1 British Champions Middle Distance Champion Stakes initially saw another Gosden runner Maverick Wave set the pace with Capri and Crystal Ocean. Dettori picked his moment and moved Cracksman in position and he powered through on the straight two furlongs out, leaving his rivals trailing. With the race won – in the end by a margin of six lengths – the jockey even afforded himself the luxury of celebrating 100 yards from the line. Crystal Ocean had a three-quarters of a length distance in second ahead of Subway Dancer in third.

In the race before, Roaring Lion made it a double for the day for Gosden with a decidedly closer outcome in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes
Jockey Oisin Murphy guided the winner to challenge in the centre of the course and the favourite negotiated the soft ground to hit the front in the final furlong. The Aiden O’Brien trained I Can Fly under son Donnacha however finished strongly and was only a neck’s distance away at the line, while Century Dream was half-length away in third place.

Gosden got off to the perfect start with the first of his treble in the opening Long Distance Cup as Dettori steered Stradivarius to a fifth victory of the season. After stealing a narrow inside gap on the rail from Ryan Moore on Flag of Honour, the race favourite then had to see off the challenge Thomas Hobson to maintain his unbeaten record in 2018, winning by a length and a half from the latter with Sir Erec in third a further length back. It was not all rosy for Dettori though as he was given a three-day suspension by stewards for careless riding after switching to the rail in front of the runner-up in the closing stages.

It is not often that the O’Brien/Moore combination do not come away from big meetings with at least one winner, and they enjoyed success in the Fillies and Mares Stakes with Magical. Moore and his mount came in a length ahead of Coronet and hot favourite Lah Ti Dar, with O’Brien suggesting the winner may now head to the Breeders’ Cup meeting in the USA next month.

The Sprint Stakes was won by Sands Of Mali after a bold front-running ride from Paul Hanagan, the pair coming in a length clear of two-time Group One winner Harry Angel who finished second for the fourth time at Ascot and has yet to win in six races at the track. Donjuan Triumphant was third.

The final race of the afternoon, the Balmoral Handicap, saw a dramatic late charge from Roger Varian’s Sharjah Bridge to take the honours. The winner, ridden by James Doyle, was fifth with half a furlong to run but produced a storming finish through the centre of the field to beat Escobar by three-quarters of a length.