British Champions Day 2026 at Ascot: Races, Racecard and Betting Markets

The Champions of the British flat racing season will be crowned at Ascot on Saturday 17 October, with five Group One races making up the season’s most lucrative day and over £4 million in prize money up for grabs.

The new Champion Jockey will be celebrated at Ascot. The Trainers’ Championship is still to be decided, and Aidan O’Brien will likely send a high-quality team to England in the hope of overturning Andrew Balding’s narrow advantage, which currently stands at under £100,000.

You can find out more about the high-quality races and leading contenders to be named champions of their respective divisions below.

British Champions Day 2026: Date, Venue and Prize Fund

For the first time, Qatar Racing will sponsor Champions Day, succeeding parent company QIPCO. Under the agreement, Qatar Racing sponsors all seven races on the card.

The race day will be broadcast in 170 territories in 2026, with every race on the card televised on Racing TV and Virgin Media in Ireland.

A breakdown of the races on Champions Day and purses for each race can be found below. Ascot is in the UK, so race times are the same as Irish time.

British Champions Day Races: The Group 1 Contests

Group One Long Distance Cup (1:30 PM)

The first of the five Group Ones on Champions Day is for stayers over nearly 2 miles (1m 7f 209y). John & Thady Gosden have an excellent recent record in the race, winning for the second time in three years with Trawlerman last year.

However, the reigning champion was retired earlier this season, meaning that he won’t take his place in this year’s field. The first two from the Group One Prix du Cadran will re-oppose, as Scandinavia bids to reverse the form with Caballo De Mar.

Joseph O’Brien’s St Leger winner, Highwayman, has been supplemented and brings an interesting three-year-old profile into the race.

Group One Sprint Stakes (2:05 PM)

The European sprint division has typically been hard to get a handle on, as reflected by outsiders Art Power and Powerful Glory winning the Champions Sprint Stakes since 2023.

William Haggas’ progressive Almeraq is a three-time winner in stakes company, showing an excellent turn of foot to land the Group One Sprint Cup at Haydock last month.

Previous course and distance winners Coppull, Kind Of Blue, and Prince Of India all boast bits of form that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Group One Fillies & Mares Stakes (2:40 PM)

A crucial race in the Trainers’ Championship comes in the form of the Fillies & Mares Stakes, as Andrew Balding saddles the defending champion.

Kalpana endured a luckless run in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at the start of the month, but it is worth noting that she quickly bounced back from a similar showing to win on Champions Day last year.

Three-year-old Sparan Nua will get all the weight allowances this weekend, and finished a close second behind Kalpana in the Group One Yorkshire Oaks. Johanna Walsh represents the in-form Joseph O’Brien yard and won the Irish Oaks earlier this season.

Group One Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (3:20 PM)

Europe’s best milers will be in action in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, with a fascinating outlook being provided by the inclusions of three-year-old runners Talk Of New York and Constitution River.

French raider Rayif is a dual Group One winner this season, notably getting the better of Zeus Olympios in the Prix Jacques le Marois in August. Older horses have won three of the last six editions. Ten Bob Tony won the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot in June.

Group One Champion Stakes (4:00 PM)

The feature at Ascot will be the Group One Champion Stakes, which features a rematch of last year’s showdown between Calandagan and Ombudsman.

The former held off the John & Thady Gosden runner to win by two lengths last year, but has looked slightly below that level this season, including when beaten a length and a half by Kalpana in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

Bay City Roller is a fascinating contender despite a quick turnaround after running a storming race to finish second in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. The Classic generation will be represented by Gstaad, who steps up in distance after finishing third in the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp.

British Champions Day Irish Runners: Irish-Trained and Irish-Ridden Entries

Aidan O’Brien

Aidan O’Brien will send a very strong travelling squad to Ascot this weekend in the hope of overturning Andrew Balding’s advantage in the Trainers’ Championship. Constitution River (Queen Elizabeth II Stakes) and Gstaad (British Champion Stakes) will set the tone for the Irish maestro’s afternoon, with big runs expected by both.

Minnie Hauk and Amelia Earhart (Fillies & Mares Stakes) will have outside chances against in-form Kalpana. O’Brien will be well-represented in the races that bookend the card, sending four pre-entries for the Two-Year-Old Conditions Stakes, with official declarations confirmed on Thursday. Marco Polo is among the O’Brien contenders set to take his chance.

Joseph O’Brien

Joseph O’Brien’s reputation as one of the best in the business has grown this year, with Classic glory on British turf in the Oaks with Thundering On and the St Leger with Highwayman.

Highwayman takes on a high-quality field in the Long Distance Cup. Johanna Walsh also runs in the Fillies & Mares Stakes after a disappointing effort on unsuitably soft ground in the Yorkshire Oaks.

Jessica Harrington

One of the biggest surprises of the season was produced in the Irish Champion Stakes, as Hotazhell held off Wimbledon Hawkeye to win by a nose at Leopardstown.

Hotazhell is among the Champion Stakes runners, in what is expected to be his final start before retiring to stud. That form has been subsequently boosted, with the runner-up following up with a win in a French Group Two on Arc weekend.

The four-year-old has been reliable throughout the season, winning twice over a mile and two furlongs. Harrington, who has achieved notable wins on British soil at the Cheltenham Festival, also saddles huge outsider Oro Blanco in the Balmoral Handicap.

British Champions Day Betting Markets: Win, Each-Way and Place Terms

TonyBet offers plenty of betting options for Champions Day this weekend. You can find out more about the betting markets available for action below:

• Win: Place a stake on a horse to win a race at Ascot this weekend. If the selection wins, the bet pays out at the odds taken. If the selection finishes second or worse, you lose your stake.
• Each-Way: With high-quality racing action, each-way betting will be popular this weekend. The bet covers both the win and place options, with the latter paid at ¼ (2 Places) or ⅕ (3 Places) odds (Depending on field size).
• Place Betting: Bettors can select a horse to finish in the first two or three places. Odds will be shorter, but it adds a layer of insurance to the selection.
• Forecast/Tricast: Bets can be placed on horses to finish in the first two exact positions (forecast) and first three positions (tricast). The exact order must be correct to get returns.
• Accumulator: Multiple legs can be selected to create an accumulator. All legs must win, but the odds increase because it’s harder to have winning selections in multiple races.

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