Champions Day 2023 Betting Tips – Race by Race Preview and Lucky 15 Tip

Champions Day 2023 is upon us from Ascot and Henry has been through all six races on the card and picked his betting tip from each. We get underway at 1.15pm with the Long Distance Cup.

There are some short-priced favourites on the Champions Day card but with the expected testing ground and racing moving to a different course, there could be some interesting results.

See our Champions Day 2023 tips below and a preview of each race on the card.

 

1:15 Ascot

The first race on Champions Day is the Group 2 Long Distance Cup over the 2 mile trip.

It’s SWEET WILLIAM (10/1) EW for me here. The front two Trueshan and Kyprios obviously have the superior form but at the prices I am happy to leave them alone. Sweet William has been a real improving sort this season and he’s still unexposed over staying trip. He travelled as well as anything into the Doncaster Cup last time out and went down by just over a length to Trueshan in the end. That was over 2m2f and I think returning to 2m will definitely suit. He’s not short of speed and he has a nice turn of foot to boot. He handles soft ground and hopefully if the 8 turn up, he can run into the frame at least for us.

 

1:50 Ascot

The 1:50 is the first Group 1 race, the Champions Sprint Stakes over 6 furlongs.

The one for me here is ROHAAN (10/1) EW. Back to form last time out when a well backed favourite here at Ascot last time out. He only won by a neck there but he was definitely value for more as he waited a good while to get a gap. He relishes Ascot and he’ll enjoy this deep ground more than most. The stiff finish here obviously suits his hold up style well and he’s drawn near Kinross which should prove ideal as he’s the bench setter. Rohaan has been unlucky in this race twice getting no run and being drawn on the wrong side of the track. However, with Ryan Moore booked today I think it could prove third time lucky.

 

2:25 Ascot

Next up we have the Champion Fillies and Mares Stakes, a Group 1 contest over 1m4f.

I like JACKIE OH (4/1) here for the Aiden O’Brien team. She has been a steadily improving 3-year-old and has finished an unlucky second over 1m2f on her last two starts. She’s been staying on strongly over that trip, firstly finishing like a train at the Curragh before a fine front running second on Arc day last time out again at Group 1 level. I think she’ll definitely improve by stepping up to 1m4f here for the first time. The ease in the ground is a major plus for her and the improving 3-year-old fillies have a potent record in this contest.

 

3:05 Ascot

The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes comes up at 3:05, a Group 1 over the mile.

It’s TAHIYRA (4/1) for me here. I really think she’s a superstar and despite what connections think, I don’t think she minds cut in the ground. She was an impressive winner of the Group 1 Moyglare Stakes last season on heavy. She and Mawj pulled way clear of the field in the 1000 Guineas going down by a short head in the end. Dermot Weld did say she’d improve for it and she duly has. She has won her next three starts, all at Group 1 level and Weld has gave her a summer off to target these big end of year races. The 1000 Guineas has worked out well (Better than the 2000 Guineas) and I’m hoping she’ll stalk Paddington and use her amazing turn of foot to get up close to home. I think she’s overpriced.

 

3:45 Ascot

The final Group 1 is the Champion Stakes at 3:40. 9 runners are scheduled to go to post for the 1m2f contest.

It’s BAY BRIDGE (11/2) for me here. The winner of this race last season, you could argue this race is a similar class of renewal. He resumed winning ways after a slow start to the season when landing the September Stakes at Kempton pretty decisively. He then went to the Arc next time out and finished a very respectable 6th on ground that would have been quicker than ideal for him. It appears he is coming to the boil at the right time and with the ground being on the soft side, I think he can make it back-to-back victories in the Champion Stakes.

 

4:25 Ascot

The finale is the trappy handicap that is the Balmoral Handicap, a wide-open renewal of the mile race.

Take the class edge here with MIGRATION (9/1). An impressive winner of the competitive Lincoln Handicap at the start of the season coming from off the pace on similar deep ground, I think he can defy top weight here. He’s only ran once since then and he was last behind Adayar but that was a small field at Group 3 level and that isn’t his game. Back in a handicap on a stiff track like Ascot that suits horses held up, I think he’ll resume the winning thread. The stable are in better form recently after a poor middle half of the season which can only be an added positive too.

 

Champions Day Lucky 15 Tip

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