There are 13 fillies and mares hoping to end the season on a huge high with a win in this very lucrative Group 1 race. They will battle one another over a distance of one and a half miles round the famous track at Ascot and the going looks set to be largely good but soft in places.
This is the third race of the day on the incredibly popular British Champions Day and all the biggest names in racing will be in attendance. Although some of the best fillies in British racing have been entered in some of the day’s other races, there are still some top names lining up for an exciting looking Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes.
Trends To Look Out For
Six of the 13 runners for this race are without a distance victory and that is not a promising sign for them given the recent trend. Of the last eight winners, only one of them hadn’t previously won over a mile and a half, the exception winning as far as one mile and two and a half furlongs.
Aside from a distance win, some decent form coming into this race also seems to go a long way. Only one winner in the last eight failed to finish first or second in their last completed start before claiming victory here. It helps if the top two finish came in a group or listed race as well, as good performances in less classy races have often been, unsurprisingly, less of a strong indicator.
Betting Tips
- Main Pick – Seventh Heaven at 9/4 with Betfred
- Alternative Tip – Even Song at 22/1 with Sky Bet
With three wins from three this season, nobody’s form book reads better than that of Zhukova, who can be backed at shortish odds of 7/2 with Sky Bet. She’s been lightly raced this season, with only one appearance in the past five months but it was a fairly promising one, a Group 3 victory at Leopardstown. She’s yet to win or even attempt a race at a higher level, but from what she has shown us so far, the jump up shouldn’t be too problematic. At fairly short odds however, you have to feel there are better options on the race card.
If Aidan O’Brien is going to get close to the record of 25 Group 1 victories in a season he’ll need one of his three entries to do the business here. It’s one of the few top races he’s never won but he’s had few horses that stand as good a chance as the favourite Seventh Heaven. The three year old wasn’t at the races, metaphorically, during the Fillies Epsom Oaks but she bounced back with two excellent victories in the Irish Oaks and the Yorkshire Oaks, both by quite comfortable margins. These two superb performances make her stand out above the rest here and she’s fully deserving of being the favourite.
Although she doesn’t fit the form trend for this race, having finished just seventh in her last two outings, Even Song shouldn’t be ignored as the outside pick for this one. On her day she is a very talented filly and she showed this when winning the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes in June. She was ridden by Ryan Moore that time and will be again this Saturday. Trainer O’Brien will have learned a lot from her two poor runs and a big turnaround here would not be a big surprise as the Irish maestro looks to end the Flat season in style.