Dettori rallies King of Steel to Champions Stakes victory

Had Frankie Dettori followed through with his stated plan to retire at the end of the 2023 racing season, he would have gone out in a blaze of glory guiding King of Steel to a 3/4-length victory in the Group 1, $1.3 million Champion Stakes on Saturday at sodden Ascot Racecourse.

King of Steel came from last to edge past Via Sistina in the final half-furlong of this 1 1/2-mile contest, which would have been Dettori’s final ride in England. Dettori last week announced he wasn’t retiring but was moving his tack to California this winter, and he did not, in the end, rule out further European rides.

King of Steel won narrowly but Big Rock crushed his foes in the Group 1, $1.2 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes, setting a strong pace through testing conditions and never coming close to being caught.

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Upsets began the Group 1 portion of the card with Art Power turning back big favorite Kinross in the Champions Sprint and Poptronic popping at $36.80 on the North American tote in the Fillies and Mares.

King of Steel, favored at 3-1, probably struggled with a course rated “soft” that might have been even more laboring than that after days of rain. A massive 3-year-old colt, second in the Derby in his 2023 debut, King of Steel began picking up steam after being taken wide in the homestretch, and with the rest of his rivals struggling, it was he who reeled in the 5-year-old mare Via Sistina, who also had raced from the rear, moving in advance of King of Steel.

Dettori rode King of Steel for the first time, picking up the mount when jockey Kevin Stott’s retainer with owner Amo Racing Limited ended. Roger Varian trains King of Steel, a son of Wootton Bassett and Eldacar, by Verglas. Horizon Dore, favored earlier this week, checked in third, two lengths behind Via Sistina.

The 1 1/4-mile Champion is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge race and it’s not out of the question King of Steel could be wheeled back for the Breeders’ Cup Turf. Also possible for the BC Turf is Mostahdaf, who would have been favored over firmer footing but instead was scratched Saturday because of the soft going.

Big Rock led a French one-two in the QE II, a straight course mile, though runner-up Facteur Cheval came nowhere near the winner, who was home by a whopping six lengths. To get a sense of just how demanding the Ascot course was Saturday, Big Rock, despite the huge margin of victory, needed 1:44.58 to cover the mile.

Ridden by Aurelien Lemaitre for trainer Christopher Head, Big Rock scored an overdue first win at the Group 1 level. The 3-year-old had been second in three straight Group 1s – including losses in the French Derby to subsequent Arc winner Ace Impact and in the Jacques Le Marois to Inspiral – but left no doubt of his superiority on the day. Lemaitre put the colt, by Rock of Gibraltar out of the Sea The Stars mare Hardiyna, right on the lead and let Big Rock run along well clear of his 10 rivals. None of them ever got close, Tahiyra trying to make a run a quarter-mile out but failing to sustain it while holding third. Tahiyra is a brilliant filly on faster footing, course conditions blunted her turn of foot. Tahiyra fared much better than favored Paddington, who was beaten early and faded to ninth, one place in front of English 2000 Guineas winner Chaldean.

The QE II also is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series race, but Big Rock is unlikely to come for the BC Mile.

Dettori already had won the Group 2 Champions Long Distance Cup on Trawlerman and looked like he would make it two straight Saturday when Kinross attacked and passed pacesetting Art Power in the final furlong of the Champions Sprint. Kinross had won this straight-course six-furlong dash under similar conditions a year ago, but no sooner did Kinross put his head in front than Art Power counterpunched, coming back to win by a neck.

Art Power, who paid $87.80, won his first Group 1 while making his 31st start. David Allan rode the winner, a 6-year-old by Dark Angel, for trainer Tim Easterby.

Kinross long has been an expected runner in the BC Mile, though trainer Ralph Beckett declined to commit to the race immediately after the Sprint.

Poptropic, a 4-year-old trained by Karl Burke and ridden to victory by Sam James, also was a first-time Group 1 winner, capturing the Fillies and Mares by a diminishing neck over Bluestocking. Jackie Oh finished another neck back in third.

Poptropic went to the lead and raced too keenly in the early stages but still had enough left to hold on. She might have been beaten had the race been run at its scheduled 1 1/2-mile distance, but Ascot officials moved this race, the Long Distance Cup, and the Champions to an inner course usually used only for jump racing. The regular course was heavy in places, while the inner course, with better drainage, merely was soft. The change, however, meant the Fillies and Mares was contested over a distance roughly a half-furlong shorter than carded, and Poptropic, a 4-year-old daughter of Nathaniel, just lasted.

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