Calandagan bids to win the Qatar Racing Champion Stakes for a second year running at Ascot on Saturday, and 11 horses are currently on the racecard for the 4.00pm Group 1 on British Champions Day.

The race is run over 1m1f212y on the round course, with £737,230 to the winner. The going is currently good. All the older colts and geldings carry 9st 7lb, Minnie Hauk gets the 3lb fillies’ allowance at 9st 4lb, and the four three-year-olds carry 9st 3lb. Aidan O’Brien has five of the 11 entries.

Calandagan defends his crown

Calandagan (Francis-Henri Graffard) won this race by beating Ombudsman last year, and he was second in it the year before. He is the only entry with a course-and-distance win, and he has won three of his five starts at Ascot. He was second in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes over a mile and a half here in July and has not run since, so he returns from an 84-day break. He is rated 130, second only to Ombudsman, and his Racing Post Rating of 138 is also the second highest in the field.

Ombudsman tops the ratings

Ombudsman (John & Thady Gosden) is the highest-rated horse in the race on 132 and has the best Racing Post Rating (140). He has won the Prince of Wales’s Stakes over this course and distance in each of the last two years, and he was second to Calandagan in this race 12 months ago. He won three of his four starts this year, but was beaten as favourite when fourth in the Juddmonte International at York in August, 59 days before this race. William Buick, who has ridden him in all of his recent races, is booked.

Almaqam (Ed Walker) is rated 124 and won the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh in May. He was fourth in the Prince of Wales’s, second at York and fourth in the Irish Champion Stakes, and he was third in this race last year at 28/1. Bay City Roller (George Scott), also rated 124, won the Coronation Cup at Epsom in June and has finished second on his last two starts, the latest 13 days ago. He has not run at Ascot before.

Aidan O’Brien’s five

Constitution River won the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown in July but was third in the Juddmonte International and the Irish Champion Stakes, beaten as favourite in the latter. He was supplemented for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Monday, so he has the option of dropping back to a mile.

Minnie Hauk was second in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes over this course and distance in June and third in the Yorkshire Oaks. She ran in the Arc 13 days ago and also holds an entry in Saturday’s Fillies & Mares Stakes. Gstaad, a Group 1 winner over a mile at the Curragh in May, has been second in three Group 1s this year and was third last time. Hawk Mountain won the Futurity Trophy at Doncaster last October, but he has been sixth and seventh on his last two starts. Isaac Newton has the lowest Racing Post Rating in the field (116) and is the only one of the five without a Group 1 win.

The Irish Champion Stakes winner

Hotazhell (Jessica Harrington) won the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown last month at 50/1, beating Almaqam, Constitution River and Hawk Mountain. He has won his last two races and also has a Group 1 win over a mile at Doncaster as a two-year-old, but he has never run at Ascot.

Devils Advocate (John & Thady Gosden), rated 109, completes the field. He was seventh in this race last year at 66/1 and seventh in the Prince of Wales’s and the Juddmonte International this summer.

2026 Champion Stakes Runners & Racecard

Champion Stakes trends

These are the key 10-year trends from Dave Young’s Champions Day trends:

• 9 of the last 10 winners had 4 or more career wins
• 9 of the last 10 winners either won or were unplaced last time out
• 9 of the last 10 winners had 3 or more runs that season
• 8 of the last 10 winners had an official rating of 120+
• 8 of the last 10 winners had already won at 1m2f
• 8 of the last 10 winners were aged 3 or 4
• 7 of the last 10 winners had already won a Group 1

All 11 entries have had at least three runs this season. Here is how they measure up on the other trends we can check. Seven of the 11 are rated 120 or higher.

Horse	Aged 3 or 4	Group 1 winner	Last race	OR
Almaqam	✗	✓	4th – Irish Champion Stakes	124
Bay City Roller	✓	✓	2nd – Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe	124
Calandagan	✗	✓	2nd – King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes	130
Devils Advocate	✓	✗	7th – Juddmonte International	109
Hotazhell	✓	✓	Won – Irish Champion Stakes	116
Ombudsman	✗	✓	4th – Juddmonte International	132
Minnie Hauk	✓	✓	10th – Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe	121
Constitution River	✓	✓	3rd – Irish Champion Stakes	123
Gstaad	✓	✓	3rd – Prix du Moulin	120
Hawk Mountain	✓	✓	7th – Irish Champion Stakes	116
Isaac Newton	✓	✗	9th – Prix Daniel Wildenstein	110

Minnie Hauk is the only entry to tick all four boxes: she is four, a Group 1 winner, was unplaced last time and is rated 121. Hotazhell and Hawk Mountain match on age, Group 1 and last-time-out form, but both are rated 116. Ombudsman and Almaqam are rated 120+ and meet the last-time-out trend, but both are five, and only two of the last 10 winners were older than four. For more on how races are run here, see our Champions Day pace analysis.

Champion Stakes past winners

Year	Winner	Age	Trainer	Jockey
2025	Calandagan	4	Francis-Henri Graffard	Mickael Barzalona
2024	Anmaat	6	Owen Burrows	Jim Crowley
2023	King Of Steel	3	Roger Varian	Frankie Dettori
2022	Bay Bridge	4	Sir Michael Stoute	Richard Kingscote
2021	Sealiway	4	Cedric Rossi	Mickael Barzalona
2020	Addeybb	6	William Haggas	Tom Marquand
2019	Magical	4	Aidan O’Brien	Donnacha O’Brien
2018	Cracksman	4	John Gosden	Frankie Dettori
2017	Cracksman	3	John Gosden	Frankie Dettori
2016	Almanzor	3	Jean-Claude Rouget	Christophe Soumillon

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