Anmaat produced a huge upset in the main race of QIPCO British Champions Day when winning the Group 1 QIPCO Champion Stakes at odds of 40/1.
Ridden by Jim Crowley, last year’s Group 1 Prix d’Ispahan winner came out on top this afternoon in a race that was far from free of incident.
The Shadwell-owned winner found trouble in running, while the French-trained Calandagan failed to get a clear passage as the field bunched up tightly in the home straight.
While Jim Crowley managed to find space in time, the 6/4 favourite Calandagan was not so lucky.
With first run on the six-year-old, Crowley powered clear as Calandagan eventually saw daylight and gave chase. The latter’s brave effort was too little too late, however, as Anmaat held on for a half-length success for handler Owen Burrows, much to the surprise of the large Ascot British Champions Day crowd.
Royal Rhyme (25/1) was third for rider Clifford Lee and trainer Karl Burke.
However, Jim Crowley managed to extricate the six-year-old with time to spare, at which point his mount stormed home to collar 6/4F Calandagan in the final strides. The winning margin was half a length, with Royal Rhyme (25/1) just under two lengths further back in third.
Describing his first ever victory at the QIPCO British Champions Day meeting, the successful handler, Owen Burrows, said:
“We’ve always thought a lot of this horse. I know it sounds easy afterwards, but last year after he won his Group 1 in France, I did really fancy him for the Eclipse – but he had a very complex foot injury, which took a long time to come right. Credit to the team back at Shadwell, and obviously Sheikha Hissa’s patience with him as well.
“I had to convince Sheikha Hissa to come today but credit to her, I spoke to her on Monday morning and sent her a video of an easy piece of work he did last Saturday. She was happy with it and so was I.”
Jim Crowley, for whom it was a fifth QIPCO British Champions Day success, admitted:
“We had a nice draw and I wanted to go and sit third or fourth, one off the rail, and give myself an option. But I could see early on that Los Angeles wasn’t taking Ryan [Moore] at all and, when we turned into the straight, I had horses on my outside keeping me in.
“I was going well, but then we had to try and work our way through and we got completely stopped. There was no option at the time, we were just stuck. I won’t tell you what I was thinking. But when he got the gap, it was extraordinary the way the horse picked up and, believe me, it was no fluke.”
