So You Think Heads Champion Stakes

So You Think Heads Champion Stakes

New Zealand bred super-star So You Think (NZ) heads to Ascot for the second time in his career this weekend as he looks to assert his middle distance dominance in the £1.3 million Group 1 Qipco Champion Stakes (2000m).

A race that was first run in 1877, the Champion Stakes was held in Newmarket until 2010, but has been moved to Ascot as part of the inaugural Qipco British Champions Day which features five Group 1 races in the meeting. With a massive boost in prize money, Sunday morning's Champion Stakes will be Britain's richest ever race with a stake of £1.3 million.

Heading a large field that currently stands at 17 is the Aidan O'Brien trained So You Think (NZ) (High Chaparral x Triassic). He has been kept at short odds of 2-1 for the Group 1 as bookmakers prepare for the eight-time Group 1 winner's return to his favourite trip of 2000 metres.

So You Think has raced at Ascot once before in his first appearance in England, the Prince of Wales's Stakes, and will be out to set the record straight in the Champion Stakes.

It will be just under two weeks since his brave fourth in the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe (2400m) when So You Think lines up at Ascot, making this the shortest time-frame between his races since leaving Australia.

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The eight-time Group 1 winner So You Think (NZ)

However, this should come as little concern to punters as, under the care of Bart Cummings, So You Think won the Cox Plate, the Mackinnon Stakes and ran a solid third in the Melbourne Cup, all in the space of 10 days last season.

Without doubt, the Arc was So You Think's greatest test of his 18 start career, but despite his dominance in the Champion Stakes market, the race has drawn a brilliant and highly competitive field.

With fellow Aidan O'Brien trained Await the Dawn unlikely to take part in the race, So You Think is set to face the John Gosden trained three-year-old Nathaniel (Galileo) who beat Workforce convincingly in the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2400m) at his last start. He is the second favourite at 6-1 and has not been seen on the track since late July.

Sir Henry Cecil has a very strong hand in the race with Midday (Oasis Dream) and Twice Over (Observatory). Midday has won nine of her 21 starts including the Group 1 Nassau Stakes (2000m) two starts ago beating Snow Fairy, and second to stable mate Twice Over in the International Stakes (2100m) in her last appearance. She comes into the race in hot form at odds of 7-1.

A horse that seems to grow another leg in the Champion Stakes; Twice Over has won the last two runnings of this race, and ran second to the champion racehorse New Approach (Galileo) in 2008. He has won his last two starts, the Group 2 York Stakes (2100m) and the Group 1 international Stakes (2100m), and looks a big threat and the value runner at 7-1.

A picture of consistency, the French trained Cirrus des Aigles (Even Top) has only missed a place in five of his 30 starts for Corine Barande-Barbe, and his 11 career wins have seen him run second in two Group 1 races this year. He has yet to win at the elite level but his record suggests that it may be just a matter of time and he is kept safe at 7-1.

The rivalry between the Ed Dunlop trained Snow Fairy (Intikhab) and So You Think has been fierce and they have finished within half-a-length of each other in their last two starts. The Champion Stakes will see the battle continue with Snow Fairy looking to take her first win for the season, and she is far from forgotten in the market at 8-1.

The only other runner currently showing odds of 10-1 or less in the Champion Stakes is the Godolphin runner Dubai Prince (Shamardal) who comes into the race with just three career starts, all of which he has won. Trained by Mahmood Al Zarooni, the race will be his first over 2000 metres, and showing odds of 10-1 in a field of this calibre is an indication to the regard in which he is held.

Godolphin also has the last start Group 3 winner Casamento (Shamardal) in the field along with Poet's Voice (Dubawi) who was placed behind fellow race entry Ransom Note (Red Ransom) in the Group 2 Nayef Joel Stakes (1600m) in late September.

Backing up from the Arc where he was unplaced is the three-year-old Reliable Man (Dalakhani) for trainer Alain De Royer-Dupre. Green Destiny (Marju) comes into the race off the back of two Group 3 victories for William Haggas and these two rivals head the field outside the leading chances with odds of 16-1 and 20-1 respectively.

The three-year-old filly Banimpire (Holy Roman Emperor) has won five stakes races in 2011 and was Group 1 placed in her last start in France. She joined at the tail end of the market with the Aidan O'Brien trained Windsor Palace (Danehill Dancer) who has yet to win a race in 15 starts, and Sri Putra who has been unplaced in his last two starts at Group 3 level.

With final race declarations in the field expected over the weekend, a jockey for So You Think is also expected to be announced in the coming days.

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