2026 Champion Stakes News - Quotes from connections

Jon Vine

Editor

Last updated: Fri 16 Oct 2026 13:44

Jon Vine 1 hour ago

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Quotes from connections ahead of the 2026 Champion Stakes
This Group One takes place on British Champions Day at Ascot on October 17th
Read quotes from Nemone Routh, John Gosden, Aidan O'Brien and more

Mickael Barzalona riding Calandagan win The King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot. (Getty)

Champion Stakes Quotes

Nemone Routh (Racing manager for Calandagan's owners, Aga Khan Studs)
John Gosden (Ombudsman)
George Scott (Bay City Roller)
Aidan O'Brien (Constitution River)
Ed Walker (Almaqam)

Read exclusive quotes from connections ahead of the 2026 Champion Stakes, which takes place at Ascot on Saturday.

Here's what connections have had to say ahead of this fantastic Group One on British Champions Day.

2026 Champion Stakes News - Quotes From Connections

Nemone Routh (Racing manager for Calandagan's owners, Aga Khan Studs)

Calandagan has really benefited from a break after the King George as we thought he was a bit tired that day. Take nothing away from Kalpana, but we felt he came there to win his race and then did not quite finish it out.

I thought it was a massive performance on Champions Day last year. We had a few question marks because we were viewing it as a prep for the Japan Cup and weren’t sure whether the drop back to 10 furlongs would be suitable. He blew everyone away that day and was very impressive.

In terms of ratings, last year’s Champion Stakes is his best performance. That gave us huge satisfaction and after that we took him very seriously. We went into the Japan Cup thinking we had a proper Group One horse.

John Gosden (Ombudsman)

He’s fine and I’m happy with him. It’s been a long time since he ran but his preparation has been good for the race. Things didn’t go to plan at York, but that’s life and we move on.

At York they were unfortunate with the ground. They’d prepared the track beautifully but then they got 20 millimetres in a short time before the racing began and that tipped it the other way. It was nobody’s fault.

I’ll probably go down early and check the track (at Ascot) myself on Thursday. He wants good ground or better. All being well, and weather permitting, then we’ll be there on Saturday.

We know he’s at his best on summer Flat racing ground. That’s when he’s shown his best and been able to use that explosive turn of foot. Once you’re getting on in the year, as we are now, into the autumn and you have autumn ground then that potent weapon is potentially blunted.

George Scott (Bay City Roller)

Bay City Roller has had two parts to his season. He started in the spring at Chester, giving Lambourn 5lb and I thought he ran very well. He has held his consistency through the year, finishing second in the Tattersalls Gold Cup, and then his romp in the Coronation Cup was definitely a season highlight for us.

We were delighted with his trial for the Arc behind Daryz, and as it turned out he finished second again behind him on the big day. He has just been a model of consistency, so reliable, and he seems very tactically and ground-versatile now. Still feel like he has got plenty of running left in him.

Aidan O'Brien (Constitution River)

We always thought Constitution River had pace enough for a mile. Obviously, in his last two runs he went from the furlong and a half to the half-furlong marker then didn’t really quite finish off. Now, we felt in York there was a reason for that – the pace was very strong and he got hung up in it early and he was maybe in a gear too high the whole race. He went to Leopardstown and it was a little bit the same, the pace was very strong and he went early as the pace dropped away in front of him. Then he emptied out.

We weren’t sure at that time if he wasn’t staying or what, it’s very possible with the health of the horses at that time, he was just getting tired and when there’s something going on for a while (low-grade infection in the yard), like yourself, you will tire quicker. So, there’s a chance that was happening.

We were nearly going to do it (go back to a mile) this time but then the more we thought of it, was it fair to Gstaad to throw him in to a mile and a quarter race of that calibre, and was it fair to Constitution to go back to a mile? It might have been a knee-jerk reaction. I was asking was I doing the wrong thing with them all year, and maybe I was, but we just decided – especially when the ground looks as though it’s going to be nice, proper, racing ground – we’d find out a bit more.

Ed Walker (Almaqam)

Saturday is potentially the biggest day of my career. Almaqam has proved to be better in the 12 months since this day last year, winning the Tattersalls Gold Cup in May and going agonisingly close in the Juddmonte International at York in August.

Don’t hold his performance (fourth in the Irish Champion Stakes) against him as the drying ground and nature of the track didn’t help him at Leopardstown. Things will be much more in his favour over the stiff track here; in fact it is tailor-made for him.