ombudsman

Ombudsman will not race again this season after connections opted out of a Japan Cup rematch with his Ascot conqueror, Calandagan (Gleneagles), in favour of a return to action in 2026 when the Godolphin-owned colt is set to continue his racing career as a five-year-old. Trained by John and Thady Gosden, Ombudsman was bidding for his third Group 1 success of the campaign when he lined up as the 13/8 favourite for Saturday's Qipco Champion Stakes, having already announced himself as one of the world's premier middle-distances horses with victories...

The Aga Khan Studs' Calandagan, fresh off a victory in the G1 Champion Stakes, has been ranked 133 by Timeform, second only to Hong Kong Horse of the Year and recent G1 The Everest winner Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress), who is at 135. The ranking is the highest for a European horse this year. The Hong Kong invader received a mark of 128 for his Australian heroics. The son of Gleneagles surpassed the mark of 131 given to Daryz (Sea The Stars), who also races in the iconic green with...

Saturday, Ascot, post time: 16:05, THE QIPCO CHAMPION STAKES-G1, £1,417,500, 3yo/up, 9f 212yT Field: Almaqam (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Calandagan (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), Economics (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), First Look (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Fox Legacy (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Ombudsman (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Prague (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Almeric (GB) (Study Of Man {Ire}), Delacroix (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Devil's Advocate (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}), Mount Kilimanjaro (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). TDN Analysis: The Champion Stakes as it should be but not always is, with...

After a summer of toing and froing and ding-dong battles, Ascot's feature G1 QIPCO Champion Stakes brings it all to a satisfyingly gladiatorial climax on Saturday. Having revelled in Ombudsman's dramatic surge at the end of the Prince of Wales's, Delacroix's huge move coming off Leopardstown's bend in the Irish Champion and the relentless power of Calandagan at the close of the King George, it all comes together in a perfect blend on a perfect sunlit autumn afternoon for the latest QIPCO Champions Day. The headline race is a qualifier...

We should have seen it coming really. Night Of Thunder burst onto the scene in 2019 to be champion first-season sire with seven stakes winners to his name. Not all leading freshmen go on to put themselves into contention for champion sire honours, of course, but six years later this is exactly what the prolific Night Of Thunder has done, and he looks almost certain now to follow the achievement of his own sire Dubawi, who was champion in 2022. Dubawi, who turns 24 in January, took longer to get...

Saturday, Ascot, post time: 16:05, THE QIPCO CHAMPION STAKES-G1, £1,417,500, 3yo/up, 9f 212yT Field: Almaqam (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Calandagan (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), Economics (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), First Look (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Fox Legacy (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Ombudsman (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Prague (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Almeric (GB) (Study Of Man {Ire}), Delacroix (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Devil's Advocate (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}), Mount Kilimanjaro (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). TDN Analysis: The Champion Stakes as it should be but not always is, with...

QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday is set to feature four of the top ten horses in the world, with Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder), Field Of Gold (Kingman), Delacroix (Dubawi) and Calandagan (Gleneagles) headlining the confirmations for the five Group 1 races made on Monday. The £1.3m QIPCO Champion Stakes looks like being one of the races of the year, with the world's top-rated horse, Ombudsman, leading 15 confirmations for the 10-furlong contest. The Godolphin-owned four-year-old's ongoing rivalry with Coolmore's Delacroix will be settled at Ascot on Saturday...

The majority of the season's stars have held their ground after the latest acceptance stage for Britain's richest race day, the QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot on October 18. In the £1.3-million QIPCO Champion Stakes, the 2024 winner Anmaat (Awtaad) will lock horns with the G1 Princes Of Wales's Stakes/G1 Juddmonte International Stakes hero Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) and G1 Eclipse Stakes winner Delacroix (Dubawi). Also entered in that contest is the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Calandagan (Gleneagles), 2024 G1 Irish Champion Stakes scorer...

After his success in the G1 Juddmonte International Stakes, Godolphin's Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder) is now on top of the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings (WBRR). His mark of 128 is one point better than GI Travers Stakes hero Sovereignty (Into Mischief), who is tied for second with G1 Saudi Cup winner Forever Young (Real Steel) and G1 Irish 2000 Guineas/G1 St James's Palace Stakes scorer Field Of Gold (Kingman). G1 Irish Champion Stakes entrant and G1 Coral-Eclipse hero Delacroix (Dubawi) was second at York and is rated at 126....

Autumn plans for leading older horse Ombudsman are beginning to take shape, with a third clash with Delacroix (Dubawi) in the G1 Irish Champions Stakes all but ruled out in favour of an appearance on QIPCO British Champions Day. Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the son of Night Of Thunder has been one of the star performers of the summer, having registered Group 1 victories in the Prince Of Wales's Stakes and Juddmonte International either side of a narrow defeat to Delacroix in the Coral-Eclipse. After gaining revenge on...

There's no jumping off the merry-go-round now that the yearling sales are in full swing, and this week's action will take the travelling show to Newmarket and Baden-Baden for Tattersalls Somerville and Germany's premier yearling sale at BBAG. The latter should expect a stampede, as the word around the grounds is that Wednesday's Ryanair flight from Stansted to Karlsruhe will be chock-a-block with new visitors to BBAG's sale alongside the racecourse at Iffezheim.  This year I've been jocked off the Baden-Baden trip by Brian Sheerin, and the current sulk at...

YORK, UK -- What a day, or perhaps that should be, oh, what a Night. Fresh from providing the €3m top lot at Arqana on Monday, Night Of Thunder was by Wednesday ruling the Knavesmire, courtesy of his sons Ombudsman and Gewan. In Ombudsman, Godolphin and the Gosdens have the classic late improver, who set about his racing in the middle of last season and burst onto the Group 1 scene in impressive fashion at Royal Ascot. The narrowest of defeats in the Eclipse next time out did little to...