Champion Stakes Loses Ulysses to Breeders' Cup

Some classic confrontations are on tap for the season-topping, but storm-threatened, QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot Oct. 21, although the event lost a marquee name in Ulysses, who will head directly to the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Del Mar.

Champions Day includes four group 1 events and a group 2. Started in 2011, the program has evolved quickly into a major year-end target for U.K. racing. Championships are on the line and this year's event is spiced by trainer Aidan O'Brien's chase of the late Bobby Frankel's record of 25 top-level victories in a season—a mark he seems well-placed to surpass at Ascot.

The only cloud on the horizon is the weather. British Met Office issued warnings for wind gusts as high as 50 miles per hour for race day, along with the chance of heavy rain. Ascot officials said they are prepared and hoping for the best.

The QIPCO Champion Stakes (G1), at 1 1/4 miles, attracted a field of 10, with some star 3-year-olds well regarded. With potential favorite Ulysses surprisingly bypassing the race in favor of the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) Nov. 4, multiple grade/group 1 winner Highland Reel is the main hope among older runners and nasty weather would not favor his cause.

At this time a year earlier, Highland Reel was in final preparations for his victory in the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita Park—a race he backed up with a second behind Satono Crown in the Longines Hong Kong Vase (G1) at Sha Tin.

Now 5, the O'Brien trainee accounted for the Investec Coronation Cup (G1) at Epsom June 2 and the Prince of Wales's Stakes (G1) at Ascot June 21. On form, his chances will be severely compromised if the predicted rain falls on Champions Day.

The Champion Stakes is one of the few top-level English races O'Brien has yet to win.

Frankel wrapped up his undefeated career with a victory in the 2012 QIPCO Champion Stakes and his 3-year-old son Cracksman is the general favorite to land the event five years on. Racing in the black-and-white Oppenheimer silks for trainer John Gosden, Cracksman finished third in the Investec Derby (G1) at Ascot and second in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby (G1) at the Curragh.

Cracksman kicked things into high gear with a six-length victory in the Betway Great Voltigeur Stakes (G2) at York Aug. 23 and a 3 1/2-length win in the Qatar Prix Niel (G2) at Chantilly Sept. 10. The decision not to send him to the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) was one of the most closely debated issues of the racing season.

The talented 3-year-old contingent also features Godolphin's Barney Roy, an Excelebration colt who won the St James's Palace Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot and seeks redemption after running second to Ulysses in the Coral-Eclipse (G1) at Sandown and third behind Ulysses and Churchill in the Juddmonte International Stakes (G1) at York.

Trainer Richard Hannon said Barney Roy and Churchill compromised each others' chances at York "and it very much played into the hands of Ulysses. I bet he could not believe his luck." With Ulysses headed for California and Churchill cutting back to the one-mile Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (G1) on Champions Day, Barney Roy's chances brighten and Hannon said the colt "goes there in great nick."

Also in the youth brigade are Poet's Word, most recently second in the QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes (G1) at Leopardstown; French invader Brametot, fifth in the Arc after earlier landing the QIPCO Prix du Jockey Club (G1) during a four-race winning streak; and the O'Brien-trained Cliffs of Moher, the Investec Derby runner-up who would need a breakthrough here.