Fascinating Rock rallies to win Champion Stakes

Fascinating Rock, a 10-1 shot ridden by Pat Smullen, rallied between horses in the final quarter-mile to win the richest race of his career in Saturday’s $2,066,386 Champion Stakes at Ascot.

The Group 1 Champion Stakes was one of four Group 1 races on the six-race British Champions Day program at Ascot. In other Group 1 stakes, Solow (10-11) won the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at a mile on turf, Muhaarar (5-2) won the $961,915 Sprint, Simple Verse (5-1) won the $879,222 Fillies and Mares Stakes, and Flying Officer (6-1) won the $521,866 Long Distance Cup at two miles. The Long Distance Cup is a Group 2 race.

Fascinating Rock, fifth in the Irish Derby and eighth in the English Derby in 2014, won two minor stakes in Ireland earlier this year. In the Champion Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf, Fascinating Rock closed from eighth in a field of 13 to take the lead in the final furlong.

A 4-year-old colt by Fastnet Rock, Fascinating Rock finished 1 1/4 lengths in front of Found, a 3-year-old filly who was ninth in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Oct. 4. Jack Hobbs, the even-money favorite, could only finish third after racing wide and taking the lead with a quarter-mile to go. Jack Hobbs was beaten 1 3/4 lengths.

Fascinating Rock has won 7 of 12 starts for Newtown Anner Stud Farm and trainer Dermot Weld.

The first three runners are scheduled to stay in training in 2016.

Muhaarar confirmed his status as England’s top sprinter with a fourth win in a Group 1 race this year in the British Champions Sprint Stakes at six furlongs. Ridden by Paul Hanagan for trainer Charles Hills, Muhaarar took the lead with a furlong to go and won by two lengths over 4-1 Twilight Son, who was beaten for the first time in his sixth start.

Muhaarar, a 3-year-old colt by Oasis Dream, races for Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Earlier this year, Muhaarar won the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot and the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville in France.

Simple Verse won her fourth consecutive race in the Fillies and Mares Stakes, a performance with considerably less controversy than her previous start. Simple Verse finished first in the English St. Leger Stakes at Doncaster on Sept. 12 but was disqualified and placed second behind Biondi Beach. The result was later reversed in a hearing with the British Horseracing Authority.

In the Fillies and Mares Stakes, Simple Verse moved into second with a furlong to go and took the lead in the last sixteenth to win by three-quarters of a length over 7-1 Journey. Beautiful Romance, a 20-1 outsider, finished third, 2 3/4 lengths in front of Covert Love, the 4-1 favorite who won the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera at Longchamp on Oct. 4.

Simple Verse, a 3-year-old filly by Duke of Marmalade, has won 5 of 8 starts for an ownership partnership and trainer Ralph Beckett.

Flying Officer won his third consecutive race in the Long Distance Cup for American owner George Strawbridge and trainer John Gosden. Ridden by Frankie Dettori, Flying Officer finished a length in front of 8-1 Clever Cookie.

Flying Officer, a 5-year-old gelding by Dynaformer, has won 6 of 9 starts in his career.