Tote ambassador Tom Marquand is at Ascot on Saturday for Champions Day and has a good book of rides including Economics in the Champions Stakes, you can get his thoughts on their chances exclusively in his official Tote blog.
1.55 Champions Sprint - UNEQUAL LOVE
I start the day on UNEQUAL LOVE in the Sprint, she obviously ran a huge race to finish third behind Montassib and Kind Of Blue last time out. The soft ground is a little bit of a question mark for her if it's going to be extremely soft, but if offers any consolation to anyone we were quite worried about her running on really fast ground at Royal Ascot when she won the Wokingham. She's gone well on slowish ground before but this will probably be the worst ground she's come across but she's a lovely filly who's really improving with time and age and I'm looking forward to being back aboard her.
2.35 Fillies & Mares Stakes - SEA THEME
I've got SEA THEME in the Fillies & Mares. She ran a huge race in France I thought, although she finished sixth she wasn't beaten all that far. That was over 1m6f on heavy ground which we will have again here, she certainly doesn't mind that. It's a quick enough back up from her last run but plenty have managed to back up from the Arc meeting into races like this in the past, so it's not impossible. I was really surprised to see she was the biggest priced runner in the field, considering she's a winner on this ground and has shown a solid level of form. She's got a great draw, she's obviously got to improve her form a lot to trouble the best of them but I can definitely see her out running her price.
3.15 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes - DANCING GEMINI
I've got DANCING GEMINI in the QEII, a race I've been lucky win on outsider before at 66/1. He's a horse that was thought plenty of and held really sold form as two-year old including on soft and heavy ground, so hopefully that won't be an issue at all. He has run respectable races this season including in the Derby, he disappointed in the Eclipse over 1m2f and came back to the mile and ran an ok race at Goodwood last time. The stiff mile should suit and he will have to outrun his odds here but he's a good ride to pick up in a tough race.
3.55 Champion Stakes - ECONOMICS
I've got ECONOMICS in the Champion Stakes and I'm super excited to be back aboard him after his performance at Leopardstown. We are really hoping he is as versatile as we think he is with the ground, he's been so effective on good and good to firm ground and we are hoping he can be as effective on the soft ground. It looks like we've got a sensible draw in stall 6. Obviously the French horse Calandagan is one the highest rated 3 year-old's in Europe and Los Angeles is a very good horse on the back up from the Arc. It's a tough race, as it should be, it is a Champion Stakes but I really hope he can be the class act in this race and I hope he can get another Group 1 on the board.
4.35 Balmoral Handicap - ELNAJMM
My final ride of the day is ELNAJMM. He looked like he was on a really progressive line at the start of the season, bolted up at Newcastle and then won well at Ascot in a race that I didn't think was run to suit, he was pretty keen off a slow tempo. Then he's just had two runs, were he was drawn very wide at York and things didn't go to plan and a bit of a sub-par effort at Sandown. I'm hoping he can get back on track, he will have tempo to aim at which I think will help him a lot. I'm drawn in 14, so that should give me an option to get plenty of cover and hopefully he can get back to his early season form.
