Mount Atlas stuns Ascot with 33-1 Long Distance Cup win on Champions Day
A 33-1 outsider has blown the start of British Champions Day wide open. Mount Atlas won the British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot on 17 October, holding off the strongly fancied Queenstown in the 1.30.
The race is a Group One — the highest level — over 1m 7f 209yd. It opened the championship part of the card at Ascot, and it produced a shock The Guardian.
Queenstown, ridden by Ryan Moore for Aidan O'Brien, moved to the front into the straight and looked set to win. Mount Atlas had other ideas. Ridden by PJ McDonald for trainer Andrew Balding, he stayed on strongly and caught the leader inside the final furlong to score.
Balding said afterwards they were taking a chance at the near two-mile trip. He added that Mount Atlas loves Ascot and that McDonald gave him a brilliant ride The Guardian.
What makes this stand out is the shirt he wore. Mount Atlas carried the colours of the Kingsclere Racing Club, the famous dark blue with gold cross that once belonged to owner-breeder Paul Mellon. Mill Reef carried those colours to victory in the Derby, King George and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 1971.
The day had already started with a popular story. Night In Vegas won the opening race for trainer Eve Johnson Houghton and jockey Charles Bishop. The horse has now earned more than £700,000 in prize money for the Kennet Valley Thoroughbreds syndicate after costing 60,000gns (£63,000) at Tattersalls’ Book 3 sale last year The Guardian.
Attention then turned to the 2.05, the British Champions Sprint Stakes, another Group One, this time over the sharp 6f sprint trip. Almeraq was the 6-5 favourite after winning the Sprint Cup at Haydock and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Ascot in June. Among his rivals were Division, fourth in the Commonwealth Cup at Ascot in June, and Samangan, trained by Francis-Henri Graffard, who won the Group One Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville in August.
Last year’s Sprint produced one of the biggest upsets in the race’s history. Powerful Glory won at 200-1.
British Champions Day is the finale to the British Flat season, when champions are crowned. Ascot lists five Group One races on the card, with more than £4.3 million in prize money on offer Ascot Racecourse.
Scandinavia, winner of the Gold Cup at the Royal meeting at Ascot in June, was another leading name on the day’s undercard The Guardian. For fans, this means the form book is holding up in places and being torn up in others. That is Champions Day. Chaos first, then class.
