British Champions Day will enter a new chapter at Ascot this autumn, with Qatar Racing succeeding its parent company QIPCO as title sponsor of the glittering finale to the British Flat season.
The fixture will become Qatar Racing British Champions Day for the next three years, while Qatar Racing will also lend its name to all seven races on the card.
It is a new identity for one of racing’s biggest days, but the support behind it remains firmly rooted in an association stretching back to the inaugural QIPCO British Champions Day in 2011. QIPCO confirmed earlier this year that its commitment to British horseracing’s flagship raceday would continue until 2028, with the change reflecting the Al Thani family’s enduring investment in the sport.
HH Sheikh Fahad Al Thani said: “Whilst the title sponsorship will transfer to Qatar Racing for the next three years, this reflects the continued commitment of my brothers to British racing and in particular that of QIPCO chairman HH Sheikh Hamad Al Thani. Since the inaugural QIPCO British Champions Day in 2011, our family’s ambition has been to support the very best of British racing and that commitment remains as strong as ever.”
As the global racing and breeding operation of the QIPCO group, Qatar Racing will use the sponsorship to showcase its international racing, stallion and bloodstock interests on one of the sport’s most visible stages.
Few fixtures offer a stage quite like British Champions Day. Worth £4.35 million and featuring five Group 1 contests, it brings the curtain down on the domestic Flat season with many of its brightest stars gathering at Ascot for one final, spectacular afternoon.
First staged in 2011, British Champions Day is the culmination of the British Champions Series, bringing together the season’s leading horses, jockeys and trainers across a card designed to test speed, stamina and middle-distance brilliance. Its five Group 1 races cover distances from six furlongs to two miles, giving champions from across the Flat racing divisions one final opportunity to compete at the highest level.
Nick Smith, co-chair of British Champions Series Ltd and Director of Racing and Public Affairs at Ascot Racecourse, said: “We are hugely grateful to HH Sheikh Hamad Al Thani & HH Sheikh Fahad Al Thani for their longstanding support of the day, which staged the world’s joint top rated race last year. We look forward to building on the success of British Champions Day under its new brand name.”
The timing of the announcement brings an added sense of anticipation, arriving alongside the early closing entries for the five Group 1 races. If even a selection of the names entered make it to Ascot on 17 October, the first Qatar Racing British Champions Day could prove a memorable one.
At the heart of the card is the Qatar Racing Champion Stakes, officially rated the joint-best race in the world in 2025. A bumper 45 horses have been entered, including last year’s first and second, Calandagan and Ombudsman. The possibility of another meeting between the pair already gives the race a compelling storyline, while leading three-year-olds Constitution River and Diamond Necklace add further intrigue.
Diamond Necklace, Aidan O’Brien’s unbeaten filly, could face another formidable assignment in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, sponsored by Qatar Racing. She is among 36 entries for the mile contest, alongside Bow Echo, Blue Bolt, Docklands, Gstaad, Precise, Ten Bob Tony, Thesecretadversary and True Love.
Kalpana, fresh from her King George victory and already a two-time winner on British Champions Day, heads a powerful group of 48 entered for the Qatar Racing British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes. Estrange, Minnie Hauk, Thundering On and Johanna Walsh could also line up as Kalpana bids to add another chapter to her Ascot story.
There may be unfinished business in the Qatar Racing British Champions Long Distance Cup, where Trawlerman and Scandinavia could renew their rivalry. Caballo De Mar and Limestone are also among the 38 entries for a race that so often tests courage and stamina in equal measure.
Speed takes centre stage in the Qatar Racing British Champions Sprint Stakes. All four winners of the Group 1 sprints staged in Britain so far this season, Almeraq, Comanche Brave, Mission Central and Venetian Sun, feature among its 42 entries, raising the prospect of a fitting end-of-season showdown.
This year’s Qatar Racing British Champions Day takes place at Ascot Racecourse on Saturday 17 October. Alongside its five Group 1 contests, the seven-race programme includes the Qatar Racing British Champions Day Two-Year-Old Conditions Stakes and the Balmoral Handicap, sponsored by Qatar Racing.
Entries for the Class 2 Balmoral Handicap close at noon on 15 September. Tickets are on sale from £34 per person through the official British Champions Day website.
