Qipco British Champions Day 2025: Group 1 Race Trends and Tips for Ascot

Last weekend marked the start of the latest National Hunt season as the road to the Cheltenham Festival began. However, the Flat campaign isn’t finished just yet. This Saturday, the beautiful Berkshire venue of Ascot hosts Qipco British Champions Day 2025.

Newly expanded to seven races, the card now features no fewer than five Group 1 events. In this Qipco Champions Day preview presented by NewBettingSites.uk, we highlight the British Champions Day trends from the ten editions of the meeting between 2015 and 2024. We then put the Group 1 trends and analysis to good use by picking out our Champions Day tips in the five Group 1 races.

Qipco British Champions Day – Top Trainers

With eight wins under his own name and two in partnership with his son Thady, Newmarket’s John Gosden tops the trainer’s table. Gosden registered three wins in the Long Distance Cup and three in the Fillies’ and Mares race.

Aidan O’Brien is rarely too far from the British Group 1 winners’ enclosure and duly takes second spot. The Ballydoyle maestro matched Gosden’s tally of three wins in the Long Distance Cup over this period.

Moving further down the list, Roger Varian won the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes twice, while all three of Alan King’s wins were provided by the much-missed Trueshan in the Long Distance Cup.

Qipco British Champions Day – Leading Jockeys

As the man on board nine of Gosden’s ten winners, the effervescent Italian Frankie Dettori stands alone at the top of the jockey standings. Now racking up the winners in the USA, Frankie won’t be adding to his Champion’s Day tally in 2025.

Unfortunately, second-placed Ryan Moore is also expected to miss the 2025 meeting as he remains sidelined through injury. His absence could provide deputy Christophe Soumillon with several excellent opportunities.

In a tough year for our leading jockeys, Jim Crowley also misses out through injury, while Hollie Doyle’s presence has yet to be confirmed. We can at least rely on William Buick to partner the leading Godolphin challengers.

Qipco British Champions Day – Leading Sires

Three years after his passing, the mighty Galileo continues to make his presence felt at the biggest meetings. That influence will wane in the coming years, but talented sons such as Frankel will continue the most productive breeding line in the sport.

Established elite sires Sea The Stars, Dubawi, and Pivotal all registered more than one winner over the past ten editions, as did the sadly ill-fated Wootton Bassett, the increasingly popular Dark Angel, and Dubawi’s son, New Bay. Planteur’s three wins all came courtesy of Trueshan in the Long Distance Cup.

Best Bets for Qipco British Champions Day 2025

With the final fields now beginning to take shape and riding arrangements starting to filter through, many of our leading trainers, jockeys, and sires are set to be represented at British Champions Day 2025. Here, we use the data to pick out our best trends-based bet in each of the five Group 1 races.

Qipco British Champions Day Long Distance Cup

Starting in the big race for the stayers, Stay True has Aidan O’Brien and Galileo on his side, while Sweet William represents the John & Thady Gosden/Sea The Stars combo. However, the class act in this field is the William Buick-ridden, John & Thady Gosden-trained Trawlerman. Already successful in the Henry II Stakes, Ascot Gold Cup, and Lonsdale Cup in 2025, the 2023 winner of this race looks hard to beat.

• Recommended Bet - Trawlerman to win @ 1/2 with PricedUp

Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes

Eight runners make the shortlist by virtue of their trainer, jockey, or sire in the sprint. However, only Spy Chief and Flora Of Bermuda qualify on two fronts. Of that duo, preference is for the Andrew Balding-trained Flora Of Bermuda. This Dark Angel filly boasts solid form at this track, having finished third in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes and the 2024 edition of this race. She can hit the frame again at a double-figure price.

• Recommended Bet - Flora Of Bermuda each way @ 10/1 with BetGoodwin

Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes

Andrew Balding’s defending champion, Kalpana, heads the betting and should go well. However, she only qualifies by virtue of her trainer, whereas French raider Latakia (sire and jockey), and the Aidan O’Brien trio of Ballet Slippers, Bedtime Story, and Island Hopping (trainer and sire), all qualify on two fronts. Predicting which of the O’Brien runners will line up is tricky at this stage, which sways us towards Latakia. She failed to stay 1m6f on soft ground on Arc Day but had previously looked like a filly on the up.

• Recommended Bet - Latakia each way @ 12/1 with BetTOM

Queen Elizabeth II Stakes

Irish 2,000 Guineas and St. James’s Palace Stakes winner Field Of Gold is the clear ratings choice in this event over a mile. However, he’s a short price for a horse who needs to bounce back from a subpar effort in the Sussex Stakes. The Lion In Winter is interesting for Aidan O’Brien, but we prefer a small stakes punt on Carl Spackler. A three-time Grade 1 winner in the USA, he managed only sixth in the Queen Anne Stakes and Sussex Stakes but has since relocated to the John & Thady Gosden yard. Any improvement for his new surroundings could see him hit the frame.

• Recommended Bet - Carl Spackler each way @ 40/1 with Virgin Bet

Qipco Champion Stakes

Last but by no means least, what promises to be one of the races of the season. Ombudsman and Delacroix lock horns for a third time, with the score standing at one apiece, while French ace Calandagan returns for a second crack at the prize.

The returning Economics and Great Voltigeur winner Pride Of Arras make the most each-way appeal in a cracking contest. However, we see this being fought out by the market principles, with Ombudsman just earning our vote. Sensational in the Juddmonte International last time out, he is the only course-and-distance winner in the field and can add to his Prince of Wales’s Stakes triumph.

• Recommended Bet - Ombudsman to win @ 15/8 with BetGoodwin