The two-mile trip of the British Champions Long Distance Cup provides the perfect distance for the category finale.
With £450,000 in prize money, it is one of the most valuable all-aged prizes for stayers in Europe and is a popular betting race with punters looking for an opportunity away from the usual antepost Cheltenham odds.
The Contenders
It’s easy to see why the Aidan O’Brien-trained Kyprios (4/6) is leading the way in the antepost betting for this race.
The six-time Group 1 winning son of Galileo showed guts and determination to regain the Gold Cup under Ryan Moore at Royal Ascot in June and subsequently remains unbeaten this season, having cruised to a Goodwood Cup victory last time out.
The six-year-old was second to Trawlerman in a thrilling affair last October and Aidan O' Brien has done well to nurse the horse back to full health after a life-threatening injury.
I was present on the day when Kyprios won the Group One Qatar Prix du Cadran by 20 lengths despite veering all the way across the track at ParisLongchamp, and you could tell there and then he was going to be a star stayer.
Hot on the hooves of Kyprios in the betting is Trawlerman (3/1) and their respective form lines are heavily intertwined.
Winner Market -
While the roles were reversed from Champions Day last year, trainer John Gosden felt Trawlerman lost little in defeat behind Kyprios in the Gold Cup.
“William gave him a lovely ride in a great rhythm, and just changing his legs, when Kyprios came to him there was a battle, and that’s what you like to see, a ding-dong fight right to the line at the end of the Gold Cup. Having nailed Kyprios in the mud last season, he beat us on the fast ground today.”
Weather watchers will be keen to follow Trawlerman in again this October to see if the Ascot track produces attritional conditions.
Sweet William was cut to 9-2 in our horse racing betting (from 6-1) for the Long Distance Cup after landing the Doncaster Cup.
Gosden’s five-year-old is ultra-consistent and has not finished outside the first three in 14 races and appears to be peaking just at the right time.
Having run good races behind Kyprios in the Gold Cup and Goodwood Cup this summer, Sweet William took full advantage of the champion stayer's absence at Doncaster, but I would be slightly dubious whether he could take him down in a rematch on Champions Day.
After going down by a short-head to Vauban in the Lonsdale Cup at York, the Tom Clover-trained Al Nayyir is an interesting outsider for this Ascot feature.
Winner Market -
The five-time winner has been a regular visitor to Meydan throughout his career and spent his summers racing in France. He ran in last season’s Prix Royal-Oak at ParisLongchamp but appeared to hate the heavy conditions that day.
Now based at the Kremlin House Stables, if he gets some favourable conditions on the day then he could go well at a decent double figure price. Bred by the Godolphin Stud, this Dubawi gelding is no forlorn hope.
Long Distance Cup ante post tip: Al Nayyir (E/W)
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Alamy*
