Kalpana bids to make Champions Day history in the Qatar Racing British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes at Ascot on Saturday (2.40pm). Andrew Balding’s mare has won this Group 1 in each of the last two years, and a third success would make her the first horse to win at the meeting three times since it was inaugurated in 2011.

Thirteen fillies and mares go to post over 1m3f 211y, with £283,550 to the winner. The ground was good, good to firm in places on Thursday, with 2-4mm of rain forecast before racing. Three-year-olds have won seven of the last ten runnings, and this year’s crop includes the Irish Oaks winner and the filly who ran Kalpana to a short head at York.

British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes Racecard

Fancied Runners

Five fillies and mares stand out in this year’s line-up: the dual winner Kalpana, Irish Oaks winner Johanna Walsh, the lightly raced Lilt, last year’s Oaks heroine Minnie Hauk and Sparan Nua, who came within a short head of Kalpana at York.

Kalpana (Trainer: Andrew Balding | Jockey: Colin Keane | Draw: 1)

The highest-rated runner in the field on 124, Kalpana has had a stellar season. She beat Calandagan in the King George at Ascot and then held off Sparan Nua by a short head in the Yorkshire Oaks, despite Colin Keane feeling the ground was “plenty slow for her”. She was fifth in the Arc 13 days ago, two places better than her run in Paris before last year’s win here. Keane is back aboard and said: “I don’t think you saw the best of her (in the Arc).”

Johanna Walsh (Trainer: Joseph O’Brien | Jockey: Dylan Browne McMonagle | Draw: 6)

Joseph O’Brien’s Johanna Walsh won the Irish Oaks in July in the fastest time for 20 years. She was only sixth on her latest start 58 days ago, but she is rated 117, has Dylan Browne McMonagle in the saddle, and gets the 6lb three-year-old allowance.

Lilt (Trainer: William Haggas | Jockey: Tom Marquand | Draw: 10)

Lilt has had only a handful of starts for William Haggas. She was second to Oaks winner Thundering On in the Blandford Stakes on her first run since June, and a step up in trip and any ease in the ground should suit. Rated 110, she gets the 6lb three-year-old allowance, and Tom Marquand rides.

Minnie Hauk (Trainer: Aidan O’Brien | Jockey: Ryan Moore | Draw: 12)

Aidan O’Brien’s Minnie Hauk won the Oaks, Irish Oaks and Yorkshire Oaks in 2025 and was beaten just a head in the Arc. She has won the Mooresbridge Stakes this year and was third behind Kalpana and Sparan Nua at York, but she was unplaced on her latest start 13 days ago. She is rated 119, and Ryan Moore rides.

Sparan Nua (Trainer: Jim Bolger | Jockey: Rossa Ryan | Draw: 4)

Jim Bolger has had this race in mind for Sparan Nua since York, where she went down by a short head to Kalpana at 25/1. “I’m itching to have a crack at Kalpana,” said the trainer. Rated 118, the three-year-old filly receives 6lb from her elders. She was only ninth in the Prix Vermeille last time, but that came on fast ground at Longchamp, and she handles deep ground well. Rossa Ryan keeps the ride.

The Outsiders

Danielle (rated 111) was second last time under James Doyle, while See The Fire (113) is a five-year-old with Rob Hornby aboard. William Buick partners the three-year-old Symbol Of Majesty, and Oisin Murphy rides Believed, who returns from 64 days off.

Inis Mor (Billy Loughnane), Coedana (Connor Beasley), Tajlina (Pierre-Charles Boudot) and Sugar Island (Christophe Soumillon) complete the field and all have something to find at this level on ratings. Tajlina has been off the track for 132 days.

Fillies & Mares Stakes Trends

These trends cover the 15 runnings since the race joined British Champions Day in 2011.

• Age: Three-year-olds have won 10 of the 15 runnings, including seven of the last ten. The other five winners were all four-year-olds. No filly or mare aged five or older has won in that time, which is a hurdle for Kalpana, Danielle and See The Fire.
• Repeat winners: Kalpana is the only horse to win the race twice since 2011, in 2024 and 2025. No horse has won it three times in that period.
• Classic winners: Dancing Rain (Oaks), Simple Verse (St Leger) and Star Catcher (Irish Oaks) all followed up here in the same season. Irish Oaks winners have a poor record overall, though: Great Heavens, Chicquita, Covert Love, Seventh Heaven, Even So and Snowfall were all beaten. That is a warning for Johanna Walsh.
• Beaten favourites: Short-priced fancies have often been turned over. Snowfall was beaten at 8/11 in 2021 and Seventh Heaven at 5/4 in 2016.
• After the Arc: A run in the Arc is no barrier. Kalpana was seventh at Longchamp before winning this race last year.
• Trainers: John Gosden has the best record with three wins (2016, 2019 and 2022). Aidan O’Brien (2017 and 2018) and Andrew Balding (2024 and 2025) have won it twice each. O’Brien runs Minnie Hauk.
• Jockeys: William Buick has won twice (2020 and 2024) and rides Symbol Of Majesty. Colin Keane won on Kalpana last year.

Fillies & Mares Stakes Prediction

She may not have been at her best in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, but Kalpana is back her old hunting ground of Ascot and has to be the one to beat. Andrew Balding’s starlet has bounded to dominant wins in this contest the last two years, and providing the Arc hasn’t taken too much out of her then she should be able to storm to victory here.

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