Cirrus Des Aigles headlines at Ascot

French jockey Olivier Peslier (R) leads Cirrus des Aigles to win Globe-trotting Cirrus Des Aigles is the headline act on British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday. The seven-year-old bids to follow up his victory in the £1.3 million QIPCO Champion Stakes two years ago, having finished runner-up to Frankel in last year?s renewal.
Victory would take Cirrus Des Aigles? prize-money earnings beyond £5 million, in the process supplanting Goldikova as the top-earning racehorse from France, where he is trained by Corine Barande-Barbe. He will be ridden by Christophe Soumillon.
Cirrus Des Aigles failed to show his mettle over the summer after he picked up an injury in Hong Kong in December.
But he resumed winning ways in September, after which he handsomely won the Prix Dollar at Longchamp on October 5.
"I trust this horse," Barande-Barbe said of Cirrus Des Aigles.
"He is coming back to his best now."
A field of 10 runners has been declared for the 2,000-metre contest, among them two more from France and two from Ireland.
But British bookmakers rate Farhh, trained by Saeed Bin Suroor in Newmarket, England, as the biggest threat to Cirrus Des Aigles.
Owned by Sheikh Mohammed?s Godolphin operation, Farhh has not run for five months but has winning form on rain-softened ground that horses will encounter at Ascot.
Of the other runners, Ryan Moore rides the Epsom Derby winner, Ruler Of The World, for Aidan O?Brien?s stable. Richard Hughes substitutes aboard Hillstar, which is usually ridden by Moore.
Steady rain in the build-up raised fears that the six-race card, carrying total prize-money of £3.4 million, would be hit by a spate of withdrawals.
But those fears proved groundless when all but one race attracted fields of 10 runners or more.
Another horse bidding to repeat a previous victory on Champions Day is Maarek, trained in Ireland by Barry Lalor and winner of the prestigious Prix de l?Abbaye at Longchamp on October 6.
Maarek won last year?s QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes and is expected to start favourite for Saturday?s renewal.
Like Cirrus Des Aigles, he went off the boil in summer before rebounding to win his last two starts. Hawkeyethenoo and Sirius Prospect, the second and third horses home 12 months ago, are in the line-up once more.
Ireland is again strongly represented after horses trained in that country won four of the five headline races last year.
Dawn Approach, trained by Jim Bolger, bids to round off a season that saw him land the QIPCO 2000 Guineas in May by winning the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (sponsored by QIPCO) over 1,600 metres.
Dawn Approach ran disappointingly in France in August but was subsequently found to have mucus in his lungs. He has since been rested and Bolger reports him in rude health.
?We are very happy with him,? the trainer said. ?I am hopeful he will be able to cope with soft ground but we won?t be sure until after the race.?
Aligned against Dawn Approach is Soft Falling Rain. The horse is trained by South African champion Mike de Kock, who runs a satellite racing stable in Newmarket.
Soft Falling Rain won races in South Africa and Dubai before transferring to Britain, where he impressed in winning his last start. However, soft ground is an unknown quantity for a horse with a prolific winning record on faster surfaces.
?There have to be some reservations but it?s hard to know until you try,? de Kock said.
The most cosmopolitan race on Saturday is the QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes, in which the de Kock-trained Igugu confronts runners from Britain, France, Germany and Ireland.
And Estimate will represent Her Majesty, Queen of England, in the QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup over 4,000 metres, Estimate won the Ascot Gold Cup at the Royal meeting in June and would be a popular winner with the anticipated 25,000 crowd.
Source: AFP