One of the biggest races on the British flat racing circuit is unquestionably the Champion Stakes. Held each year at Ascot, it forms part of Champions Day in October, which is the culmination of the British Champions Series. The end-of-season meet is the richest individual day of British racing and the Champions Stakes is a big reason for this with its huge £1.3m prize pot (in 2024).
With the prestige of this contest as big as its purse, some of the best middle-distance runners around compete in this 1m 1f 212y battle every year. It is open to horses of both sexes, aged three years old and up. Three-year-old horses run four pounds lighter than their older competitors while fillies and mares enjoy a three-pound allowance.
Champion Stakes History
The Champion Stakes has a long and rich history as the first edition of this famous event took place back in 1877. Its original home was Newmarket and it is here where most Champions Stakes renewals have taken place. In 2011 though, the race permanently moved to Ascot to form part of the newly established British Champions Day.
The Champion Stakes is one of the ‘win and you’re in’ races for the Breeders’ Cup Turf. This means that the winner of the Champion Stakes receives automatic entry to the $5m contest in America that forms part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge.
Champion Stakes Records & Facts
Here are some of the most interesting Champion Stakes facts and figures.
Most Wins
A horse by the name of Tristan won the Champion Stakes three consecutive times starting in 1882. Several horses have won the contest twice, but Tristan is the only horse with three wins. Despite being described as a “very vile-tempered animal” this did not stop him regularly impressing on the track. Across 51 races, the unpredictable champion recorded 27 wins. He particularly blossomed when reaching four years of age and it was then when he registered the first of his Champion Stakes wins.
Top Trainer
Alex Taylor Jr, named British flat racing Champion Trainer on 12 occasions between 1907 and 1925, saddled eight Champion Stakes winners. Lemberg (1910 and 1911) secured victory twice but all other horses secured a solo win in the race. Taylor Jr’s record is a safe one as no active trainer is anywhere close to matching, let alone bettering it. John Porter is the trainer next on the list, with six wins, but was active during Victorian times.
Top Jockeys
Danny Maher and Charlie Elliott are the joint all-time leading jockeys in this race with six wins each. Maher secured his over a very short period, recording all of his victories between 1901 and 1910. Elliot, meanwhile, went almost 30 years between his first (Ellangowan, 1932) and last win (Dynamiter, 1952) in the contest. Both were well-recognised jockeys during their era and were named British flat racing Champion Jockey on two occasions each.
Dead Heats
Many historic races are yet to experience a dead heat but the Champion Stakes has witnessed three. The 1882, 1884 and 1933 editions of the contest failed to separate the two leading horses as they crossed the line, so victory was shared. Incredibly, this means that two of Tristan’s three Champions Stakes successes involved a dead heat. Back then dead heats were, in fairness, more common, due to less precise timing methods.
Long-Odds Winners
It is not possible to find the odds for every single winner of the Champion Stakes but we do have the data for the last three decades. During this time there have been relatively few massive upsets but the contest has not been completely immune to them. The 2024 running of the middle-distance contest stunned racing fans as 40/1 shot Anmaat crossed the line, first with 6/4 favourite Calandagan half a length behind. This was the longest-priced winner the race had witnessed in several decades.
There has only been one other instance of a horse priced larger than 14/1 winning this race in its recent history. The other shock result came in 2005 when David Junior, ridden by Jamie Spencer, beat 14 other horses at Newmarket on his way to a 25/1 victory.
Frankel Farewell
One of Britain’s most famous horses, Frankel, bid farewell to a stunning racing career in the Champion Stakes. Coming into the event at Ascot, the Henry Cecil-trained horse had an unbeaten record from 13 previous starts. He was heavily fancied to make it 14 wins from 14 in the Champion Stakes, priced at 2/11 for the win, and the four-year-old did not disappoint. Despite a slow start, Frankle soon found his feet and looked assured as he etched his name once again into the history books.
