Champions Day: Cracksman defends Champion Stakes as John Gosden seals treble
- Published
Dettori (left) begins the celebrations as Cracksman romps home at Ascot
Cracksman defended the Champion Stakes as trainer John Gosden claimed a treble at Champions Day at Ascot.
Frankie Dettori surged clear on the 5-6 favourite, son of the legendary Frankel and in blinkers for the first time.
Sir Michael Stoute's Crystal Ocean finished six lengths back in second, with outsider Subway Dancer third.
Gosden also triumphed with Roaring Lion - who won a fourth Group One in securing the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes - and Stradivarius in the first race.
In warm, unbroken autumnal sunshine, another Gosden runner, Maverick Wave, set the pace in the big race with Capri and Crystal Ocean on his heels.
Dettori moved Cracksman in position and he powered through on the straight two furlongs out, leaving his rivals trailing and allowing the jockey to wave his whip in celebration 100 yards from the line.
The Italian said: "All the lights were on and when I kicked he went 'whoosh'. It was brilliant. He did it all on his own.
"You know when you are going twice as fast as the others, and I could celebrate."
Cracksman was two and a quarter lengths back in second behind Poet's Word at Royal Ascot in June and Gosden said: "It is super to have him back.
"When he's in the zone, he's a very good horse. I would think it quite likely he'll go to stud.
"He's a four-year-old, turning five. He's Frankel's best son and it's good to see him back to his best."
In the QEII Stakes, Oisin Murphy produced Roaring Lion to challenge in the centre of the course and the 2-1 favourite defied the soft ground to hit the front in the final furlong.
I Can Fly finished strongly and was only a neck down at the line, while Century Dream was half-length away in third place.
Roaring Lion wins the QEII Stakes by a neck
Gosden said: "Oisin said he hated the ground. That is no-one's fault, it is very deep. He won on fast ground at Leopardstown and he is probably a good ground, good to firm ground horse.
"He showed his class and I thought the jockey showed his class, as he did not panic. He could have panicked at the two and thrown everything at it, but he nursed him and got him there.
"He has never missed a dance and I think he will go to stud. I think that was his swansong and he will be greatly missed."
Dettori triumphs on Stradivarius
Dettori steered Stradivarius to a fifth victory of the season in the opening Long Distance Cup after dramatically stealing a narrow inside gap on the rail from Ryan Moore on Flag of Honour.
The evens favourite then had to see off the challenge Thomas Hobson to maintain his unbeaten record in 2018 for Gosden.
Dettori was given a three-day suspension by stewards for careless riding after switching to the rail in front of the runner-up in closing stages.
Dettori celebrates on Stradivarius, who won won the Gold Cup at Ascot earlier in the year
Moore triumphed aboard Magical (5-1) in the Fillies and Mares Stakes for trainer Aidan O'Brien, ahead of Coronet and Lah Ti Dar.
O'Brien indicated the winner may go to the Breeders' Cup meeting in the United States next month.
The 28-1 shot Sands Of Mali, trained by Richard Fahey, claimed the Sprint Stakes under a bold front-running ride from Paul Hanagan.
Harry Angel, a two-time Group One winner, finished second for the fourth time at Ascot and has yet to win in six races at the track.
In the final race of the afternoon, the Balmoral Handicap, Roger Varian's Sharjah Bridge was fifth with half a furlong to run but produced a storming finish through the centre of the field to beat Escobar by three-quarters of a length.
The Gosden-Dettori combination were favourites for another victory with Argentello but finished seventh.
Since 2011, the six-card British Champions Day meeting has been held at Ascot each October, acting as the end-of-season highlight fixture of British Flat Racing.
It is the richest raceday in the country, with £4.35m of prize money on offer this year.
Analysis
BBC horse racing correspondent Cornelius Lysaght:
What a magnificent way by John Gosden to cap a stellar season which has brought him the trainers' championship for a third time.
Ok, all the build-up was about the Gosden team having four favourites, and if he would win with all four, and one - Lah Ti Dar - was beaten, but as the man himself put it "it's not a bad day to have a treble".
Cracksman was simply magnificent, an only narrow win at Epsom and a Royal Ascot defeat forgotten, while Roaring Lion showed he has a lion-like heart to win here at a mile thrillingly.
Both retire as champions, something they ably demonstrated on Champions Day.
Qipco Champions Day winners
13:25 Stradivarius (John Gosden/Frankie Dettori) Evens
14:00 Sands of Mali (Richard Fahey/Paul Hanagan) 28-1
14:40 Magical (Aidan O'Brien/Frankie Dettori) 5-1
15:15 Roaring Lion (John Gosden/Oisin Murphy) 2-1
15:50 Cracksman (John Gosden/Frankie Dettori) 5-6
16:30 Sharja Bridge (Roger Varian/James Doyle) 8-1