Saturday’s Champions Day card at Ascot looked a cracker on paper, but regardless of how the whole card looked, the feature Champions Stakes was a contest that stood out as being one of the best of the season.

Favourite Ombudsman led the home charge, previously a Royal Ascot winner earlier this summer at the course. French runner Calandagan, a previous foe of his, was also in there, plus there were fascinating angles with Delacroix and Economics amongst the other runners taking part.

These mouth-watering clashes sometimes don’t live up to the billing, but Saturday’s certainly did. It headlined a fantastic day of racing at Ascot, one that delivered in style, even though some of the winners were very difficult to find.

Calandagan Wins Champions Stakes Thriller

Pulling away in the final furlong when under pressure, Calandagan would win the contest by two and a quarter lengths, ahead of Ombudsman in second place.

Sent off as the 15/8 favourite, the Francis-Henri Graffard runner was sent to the lead just over a furlong from home, and despite having some high-quality horses trying to get to him, he just kept on slipping a little further ahead as the line drew closer.

Rider Mickael Barzalona was excellent on top once again, navigating a good position, coming out wide and really stamping his authority on the race to push his mount clear.

Trainer Graffard called it a “beautiful race to watch”, highlighting the smooth rhythm and decisive acceleration that set the winner apart from the rest, and he was undoubtedly correct.

This was more than just a Group 1 victory. It felt like confirmation that Calandagan belongs at the very top of middle-distance turf racing. His last three races have now all resulted in success, and they’ve been three of the biggest middle-distance races in Europe.

Where Next for Calandagan?

The good news after that magical performance at the weekend is that we may not have seen the last of Calandagan this season just yet.

There’s plenty of talk about racing once more this season, with a run in the Japan Cup at the end of November under serious consideration.

It’s also a race under consideration for the second-placed Ombudsman. Although talk after the Ascot race now seems to point towards him not travelling to Japan, no official decision has been made.

The door is open so that they could meet again in Tokyo, one worth looking out for, and a race with a huge amount of prize money at stake, though my best guess is that this is now less likely to happen.

Big Priced Winners Surprise on Champions Day

Elsewhere, there were four more Group One contests on Champions Day, and two of those races saw massive surprises, while favourites won the other two.

The biggest price of the day came in the Champion Sprint Stakes as Powerful Glory came home in front, trained by Richard Fahey and ridden by Jamie Spencer.

He returned with an SP of 200/1, surprising everyone on the course. He’d only run four times before this, winning his first two but struggling as a three-year-old. It was a massive performance and a huge step forward.

Elsewhere, we had a 100/1 winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes as Cicero’s Gift came home in front for Charles Hills and Jason Watson. Coming through from the back, he was able to get a dream run through the field and powered clear to win by a length and a quarter, beating out plenty of big names.

The two more predictable winners on the card came with Trawlerman winning the Long Distance Cup as the 5/6 favourite, and Kalpana winning the Fillies & Mares Stakes at 11/8.

It was an excellent day’s racing, with plenty of star performances and some strange results, a typical Champions Day really.