England's All-Weather Championships Finals Good Friday

The ninth season of England's All-Weather Championships winds up on Good Friday, April 15, with a new venue and an international cast of horses reflecting the program's expanding role on the global racing scene.

The entries include runners from Europe and Ireland, spread across six championship races as the event moves for the first time to Newcastle from its former home at Lingfield. Leading into the Championships, the card also includes the listed Coral Burradon Stakes, featuring some 3-year-olds with flickering Classics claims.

Some top jockey names are booked to ride, including Frankie Dettori, Jamie Spencer, and Hollie Doyle.

While the early seasons of the All-Weather Championships flew under the radar on the international scene, the program has grown in acceptance as a bridge across the winter flat-racing turf void. It also has become a proving ground for the big-money races in Dubai and, more recently, Saudi Arabia, with horses moving back and forth among those jurisdictions.

Lord North , for example, used the Betway Winter Derby (G3) on the Lingfield Park all-weather course Feb. 26 as a prep for the Dubai Turf Sponsored by DP World (G1) at Meydan one month later. He finished second to Alenquer  at Lingfield but won the Meydan race in a dead heat with Panthalassa . Alenquer went on to finish sixth in the Longines Dubai Sheema Classic (G1) on the same card.

None of those will be seen on Good Friday, having used the program to achieve later-season ends. The entire card, however, is robust and competitive.

The AWC feature at Newcastle is the £200,000 (about US$260,000) Betway Easter Classic over 10 furlongs. The five other races are for 3-year-olds at six furlongs, fillies and mares at seven furlongs, an open sprint at six furlongs, a two-mile marathon, and a 1 1/4-mile event classified in England as "middle distance." Betway, Coral, and MansionBet sponsor.

Horses qualified in one of two ways. The simplest is a victory in a "Fast-Track Qualifier" during the season, which guaranteed a free entry to the corresponding final.

The second path to the finals is tougher and bakes in the international scope of the program. It requires that a horse run at least three times on the all-weather surfaces in Great Britain, Ireland, and France; or twice on the all-weather surfaces in Great Britain, Ireland, France, and once on dirt in Dubai or Saudi Arabia and then be rated high enough by the British Horseracing Authority to make the cut.

The antepost favorite in the Easter Classic field is Tyrrhenian Sea, a 4-year-old Dark Angel  gelding who is 3-for-3 over the Newcastle all-weather. He arrives on the heels of his first career loss—a fourth-place finish when badly impeded at Kempton Park March 2. Roger Varian trains for his owner/breeder, Flaxman Stables of Ireland Ltd.

"He is a lightly raced horse who should be unbeaten. He was caught in a pocket at Kempton over 10 furlongs, which can happen, and up until then he had looked very good in his short career," the trainer said.

"He looks like he should run well in the Easter Classic," Varian added, "and we would like to think that he is going there with a chance. But it is a tight race and he still has to do it on the track."

Andrea Atzeni is booked aboard Tyrrhenian Sea, who starts from the inside stall in a field of six.

The Easter Classic field also features Felix , a 6-year-old by Lope de Vega  who was a close second in this race in 2021, then went to Dubai where he finished third to Lord North in the Dubai Turf.

"I have thought for a while that Newcastle will suit him better than the sharper tracks like Lingfield," trainer Marco Boti said of Felix. "Newcastle is a big galloping track and, with his style of running, it should play to his strengths."

Joseph O'Brien is slated to bring two from Ireland with San Andreas  going in the £150,000 (about US$195,000) All-Weather Mile Championships and Grandmaster Flash in the £150,000 Betway All-Weather Marathon Championships.

"We have been very happy with San Andreas through the winter and he comes into this on the back of a good win at Dundalk," said O'Brien, son of Ballydoyle master Aidan O'Brien. "He looks as though he should be competitive on ratings and we are hoping that he can run into a place."

San Andreas finished third in a local group 3 event in Qatar two starts back.

The French contingent includes Nicolas Caullery trainee Fort Payne  in the £150,000 All-Weather Mile Championships.

"Fort Payne is doing really well and I think he goes there with nice prospects," Caullery said. "The mile suits him well and his record on the all-weather is good."