British Champions Day, sponsored by the Qatar Investment & Projects Development Holding Company (QIPCO), is a one-day meeting staged at Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire, South East England in October, which marks the end of the British Flat racing season, at least on turf. British Champions Day was established in 2011, by drawing together existing races from late-season fixtures from Ascot and Newmarket – suitably re-titled and boosted in prize money – to create an end-of-season championship meeting.
Nowadays featuring seven races, five of which are contested at the highest, Group 1 level, worth a total of £4.35 million in prize money, British Champions Day is the most valuable raceday staged in Britain. The most valuable race of the day is the Champion Stakes, run over a mile and a quarter, open to horses aged three years and upwards and worth £1.3 in prize money. Since it was transferred to Ascot, the most notable winner of the Champion Stakes, so far, was Frankel – the highest-rated Flat horse of all time – who ended his unbeaten, 14-race career with routine victory at odds of 2/11.
The only race of the day not open to horses aged three years and upwards is the British Champions Day Two-Year-Old Conditions Stakes which, as the name suggests, is restricted to juveniles. Then follow the five Group 1 races, the British Champions Long Distance Cup, over two miles, the British Champions Sprint Stakes, over six furlongs, the British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes, over a mile and a half, the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, over a mile, and the aforementioned Champion Stakes. The card closes with the Balmoral Handicap, a prestigious and valuable handicap race, with a safety limit of 20, run over a straight mile and worth £200,000 in total prize money.