The British Champions Long Distance Cup gets the Group 1 action under way at Ascot on Saturday, and the two-mile contest looks a very different race to the one we were expecting at the start of the week. Ten runners go to post for the second race of the afternoon and the first of five Group 1s on a barnstorming Champions Day card.
The headline news is the late absence of Gold Cup winner Scandinavia, which has blown the race wide open. St Leger hero Highwayman takes on his elders for the first time, while Cadran winner Caballo De Mar now heads the market. Punters have plenty to unpick in what is suddenly one of the most open races on the card.
Scandinavia’s absence blows the race open
Scandinavia would have been a warm order to make amends for his Prix du Cadran defeat, but Aidan O’Brien has decided to put the Gold Cup, Goodwood Cup and Irish St Leger winner away for the year. “With a view to next year and there’s a little bit of rain in the forecast, we would probably leave him for the year and start his preparation early, like we always do, for the Ascot Gold Cup next year,” O’Brien explained on Wednesday evening.
Ballydoyle still has two strings to its bow. Queenstown was third behind Caballo De Mar and Scandinavia in the Cadran and second in the Irish St Leger, so he sets a solid standard, while Amelia Earhart was third in the St Leger and gets plenty of weight from her elders at 8st 13lb. Their jockeys are yet to be confirmed, but Ryan Moore and Wayne Lordan are the likeliest pair.
Highwayman bids to buck the trend
Highwayman is one of the stories of the season both for his history-making exploits in the St Leger and his rapid improvement over the summer.
Beaten at 250/1 in a Naas maiden in June, Joseph O’Brien’s colt has not lost since, winning at Killarney and in the Listed Vinnie Roe Stakes before landing the Doncaster Classic under Saffie Osborne. Connections paid £37,500 to supplement him, and Dylan Browne McMonagle takes over from stall two.
History is against him, though. No three-year-old has won the Long Distance Cup since it joined Champions Day in 2011, with 22 trying and only five placing, and Eldar Eldarov was only seventh at 11/4 as the last St Leger winner to try in 2022. Highwayman receives 7lb from the older horses and has improved with every run, so he has a better chance than most, but he is a 7/2 shot to do something no three-year-old has managed in 15 years. You can read more about him in our Highwayman cheat sheet.
Caballo De Mar steps up as favourite
George Scott’s Caballo De Mar is now the 2/1 favourite, having beaten Scandinavia by a neck to win the Cadran for the second year running. He also won the Doncaster Cup in September, and he has been transformed since finishing last of 11 in the Gold Cup in June. “We’ve changed the way we ride him and train him a little bit, and he’s a horse that seems to be evolving all the time,” Scott said on Monday.
One statistic may give his backers pause for thought. Oisin Murphy has ridden just one Champions Day winner from 44 rides since 2011, Roaring Lion in the 2018 QEII. The main dangers include the Gosdens’ Gregory, who is unbeaten in two since returning from a 21-month absence, and Alan King’s Daiquiri Bay, who has won his last three starts. King knows how to win this race, having taken three renewals in a row with Trueshan.
Joe Napier’s Long Distance Cup Selections
St Leger hero Highwayman has his tender age against him, but looks the horse to beat if staying 2m. Nevertheless, this race is now wide open and Ebor third Opportunity looks particularly interesting trying 2m for the first time. He nearly won that big handicap off top-weight and gets a 5lb swing with winner Daiquiri Bay for just a half-length deficit at York. He looks just as likely to improve for this distance and with Caballo De Mar surely below 100% after his Longchamp exploits, a value selection is chanced.
