British Champions Day is a

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

horse race meeting held at

Ascot Racecourse Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races a ...

in October each year since 2011, which acts as the end of season highlight fixture of British

flat racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

. It is the culmination of the

British Champions Series The British Champions Series is a series of 35 top British flat races, which culminates in a day-long festival of championship races, known as British Champions Day. It was inaugurated in the 2011 season to draw together some of Britain's key f ...

and features the finals of the five divisions of the series, together with a valuable one-mile handicap race. It is the richest day in British racing, with more than £4 million in prize money across the six races in 2016.

History

It was created by drawing together a number of historic races which had been features of Ascot and Newmarket's end of season meetings for many years. These were the

Diadem Stakes A diadem is a type of Crown (headgear), crown, specifically an ornamental headband worn by monarchs and others as a badge of royalty. Overview The word derives from the Ancient Greek, Greek διάδημα ''diádēma'', "band" or "fillet", fr ...

and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes from Ascot, and the

Champion Stakes The Champion Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlo ...

Jockey Club Cup A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

and Pride Stakes from Newmarket. In the new fixture, these became the finals of each of the divisions of the British Champions Series. The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Champion Stakes retained their names and became the finals of the Mile and Middle Distance divisions respectively. The Diadem Stakes became the British Champions Sprint, the Jockey Club Cup became the British Champions Long Distance Cup, and the Pride Stakes became the British Champions Fillies' and Mares' Stakes.

Races

Frankel

The unbeaten colt,

Frankel Frankel is the surname of: * Benjamin Frankel (1906–1973), British composer * Bethenny Frankel (born 1970), American chef and reality television personality * Charles Frankel (1917–1975), American philosopher, known for Charles Frankel Prize ...

, won the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at the 2011 meeting, and a year later completed his racing career with victory in the

Champion Stakes The Champion Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlo ...

at the 2012 meeting. The crowd of 32,000 at that meeting was a modern-day autumn flat racing record in the UK.

References

Horse racing meetings in Great Britain Ascot Racecourse British Champions Series Recurring sporting events established in 2011 2011 establishments in England {{horseracing-stub

History

Races

Frankel

See also

References