Matt Brocklebank picks out the value at Ascot on QIPCO Champions Day in his latest Antepost Angle column, including a 25/1 fancy in the QEII.
The French have plundered the QIPCO Champion Stakes four times in the last 11 years and BRAMETOT looks decent value at double-figure odds (10/1 General) to repeat Almanzor’s victory 12 months ago and take the headline prize on Champions Day back across the Channel.
He didn’t look a horse to be trusted entirely after a dreadful effort when unplaced behind Eminent in a Group Two at Deauville in the middle of August but it transpires he was suffering with a back problem and his encouraging effort in the Arc de Triomphe last time strongly suggests those issues have now been ironed out.
He didn’t get the race run to suit at Chantilly, having to sit tight on the inside for most of the journey as the leaders dictated matters at their leisure, but he did at least break on terms this time which hasn't always been the case, and he also stuck on quite well in the straight once getting into the clear.
He didn’t conclusively prove he stayed a mile and a half, despite finishing an encouraging fifth to Enable, and should relish the drop back to 10 furlongs at Ascot while the son of Rajsaman is versatile in terms of the ground.
He was classy at two, winning three of his four starts including a couple at Listed level, but really made giant strides with a hat-trick of victories earlier this year.
He swooped late from an unpromising position to win the French Guineas on soft ground over a mile and repeated the remarkable feat when getting up close home to pip Waldgeist in the Prix Du Jockey Club on a slightly better surface over the extended 10 furlongs at Chantilly.
His Arc effort confirmed that he was not only back on track physically following that setback, but also form-wise well up to proving himself one of the best three-year-old colts around with a bold bid at Ascot.
There’s plenty of competition at the head of the market and Brametot is unlikely to be challenging Cracksman and Barney Roy for favouritism but we know he’s being aimed at the race, which isn’t the case yet with Winter, Ulysses or Churchill so there looks to be a little bit of juice in the general 10/1 from an each-way perspective.
The QIPCO Queen Elizabeth II Stakes has the potential to cut up quite significantly over the next week and it’s well worth getting THUNDER SNOW on side at a standout 25/1 (Paddy Power).
He shouldn’t really be troubling fellow Godolphin representative Ribchester on all known form but the evidence of the short-priced favourite’s Glorious Goodwood defeat makes him one to have a shot at.
Three-year-old Thunder Snow gets 3lb from Ribchester and he’s only rated 7lb his inferior on the official figures so perhaps doesn’t quite have the mountain to climb that the relative prices suggest.
The selection is also good when fresh from a break, having won first time out at two and bolted up on his seasonal debut this year out in Meydan.
A trip to American for the Kentucky Derby completely backfired in May but he’s bounced back well with a solid second to Churchill in the Irish Guineas, third in the St James’s Palace and a Group One win in France.
He was only run down in the closing stages of the Jacques Le Marois when last seen, beaten just a neck into third by Al Wukair, who is 7/1 across the boards for the QEII, which clearly makes him over-priced.
The subsequent 69-day break is a positive, if anything, and the forecast dry week could play to his strengths. In short, he looks the best bet at this stage for Champions Day.
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