2018 British Champions Series | |
---|---|
Sport | Horse racing |
Duration | 5 May – 20 October 2018 |
Horse | |
Series Champion | Cracksman |
Rating | 130 [1] |
Jockey | |
Series Champion | Frankie Dettori |
Win / 2nd / 3rd | 7 / 4 / 4 |
Trainer | |
Series Champion | John Gosden |
Win / 2nd / 3rd | 11 / 4 / 4 |
The 2018 British Champions Series , sponsored by QIPCO, was the eighth edition of the horse racing series comprising 35 of the UK's top flat races. The series began with the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on 5 May, and ended with British Champions Day at Ascot on 20 October. [2] [3]
The series was split into five categories: Sprint, Mile, Middle Distance, Long Distance and Fillies & Mares. Each category included seven races. [4] [5]
Horses were ranked according to their official BHA performance ratings in British Champions Series races during the season. Jockeys and trainers were ranked according to the number of wins, second places and third places they achieved during the series. [5]
Horses
| Jockeys
| Trainers
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Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic premise – to identify which of two or more horses is the fastest over a set course or distance – has been mostly unchanged since at least classical antiquity.
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 1 furlong and 212 yards, and it is scheduled to take place as part of British Champions Day each year in October.
Ascot Racecourse is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, about 25 miles west of London. Ascot is used for thoroughbred horse racing, and it hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and three Grade 1 Jumps races.
The British Classics are five long-standing Group 1 horse races run during the traditional flat racing season. They are restricted to three-year-old horses and traditionally represent the pinnacle of achievement for racehorses against their own age group. As such, victory in any classic marks a horse as amongst the very best of a generation. Victory in two or even three of the series marks a horse as truly exceptional.
The Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings (LWBRR), known as World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings (WTRR) before 2012, are horseracing's equivalent to World Rankings by other major sporting organizations such as ATP Tennis Rankings, World Golf Rankings, FIFA World Rankings for soccer and IRB Rugby World Rankings. The Longines Rankings are based on the rating earned by horses running worldwide from North and South America, Europe, Middle East, South Africa, Asia through to Australia and New Zealand.
The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 2 miles and ½ furlong, and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped. The race is the last leg of the Triple Crown of Hurdling and is scheduled to take place each year on the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival in March.
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 flat races into a meaningful championship, with the hope of generating coverage and stimulating interest among the more casual sports fan. It was believed to have achieved its aims based on an increase of 7% attendance at the race days that were part of the 2011 series, as opposed to a 3.9% increase in attendances across the season's race programme as a whole.
Kalaglow (1978–1994) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred race horse. In a career which lasted from August 1980 until October 1982 he ran fourteen times and won ten races. He is most notable for his performances in 1982 when he "lit up the summer" with a series of victories including the Eclipse Stakes and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Bruni, was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. In a career which lasted from 1974 until September 1977, he ran 21 times and won 5 races. He recorded his most important victory when winning the Classic St. Leger Stakes by ten lengths, one of the biggest margins in the race's 200-year history. The following season he became a difficult and temperamental performer, but was one of the leading middle distance horses in Europe, winning two Group races and finishing second in Britain's most prestigious all-aged race, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. He was retired to stud after an unsuccessful five-year-old season.
Robert Cowell is an English racehorse trainer based in Newmarket, who is widely regarded as one of the best trainers of horses running over sprint distances. His group one winners include: Prohibit, winner of the King's Stand Stakes, Jwala winner of the Nunthorpe Stakes and Goldream winner of the King's Stand Stakes and Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp.
British Champions Day is a thoroughbred horse race meeting held at Ascot Racecourse in October each year since 2011, which acts as the end of season highlight fixture of British flat racing. It is the culmination of the British Champions Series 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.
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Michael Bell is a British horse racing trainer based at Newmarket, Suffolk specializing in flat racing.
Henry David Nicholas Bourne Candy is a British racehorse trainer who specialises in training horses for Flat racing.
Sandwich was a British Thoroughbred racehorse that won the classic St Leger Stakes at Doncaster Racecourse in 1931, for owner Earl of Rosebery. By 1931, Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery had died, making this a win for his son, Harry Primrose, 6th Earl of Rosebery. Sandwich was a half-brother to Manna, winner of the 1925 Epsom Derby, and as well as his 1931 St Leger success also won the Chester Vase and King Edward VII Stakes.
Martin Harley is a Group 1 winning Irish jockey.
The 2019 British Champions Series, sponsored by QIPCO, was the ninth edition of the horse racing series comprising 35 of the UK's top flat races. The series began with the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on 4 May, and concluded with British Champions Day at Ascot on 19 October.
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