Carrytheone (14/1) swept to comfortable success in the concluding Balmoral Handicap, providing trainer Michael Bell with a first QIPCO British Champions Day success.
The Christophe Soumillon-ridden winner challenged on the outside of the 20-runner field before coming clear in the closing stages to score by two lengths. Lattam (18/1) stayed on well to head a bunch for the minor honours, ahead of Witch Hunter (25/1) and 7/2 favourite Thunder Run, who held every chance on the front end but got tired late on.
Carrytheone has run several creditable races at the track this season, including finishing third in the Buckingham Palace Handicap at Royal Ascot.
Winning owner Stuart Mizon said: “We freshened him up for six weeks at the back end of August and September with the aim of coming for the big handicap two weeks ago. He didn’t run very well there, as he missed the break 10 lengths, but he still finished sixth. He was still showing plenty at home, so we thought we’d come here.
“He won very well today – Christophe gave him a great ride – and I said to Nick [Bell, assistant trainer] afterwards, he deserves to go back into Group company after that. So he’ll have a holiday now and come back in the new year and we’ll make a plan from there.
“We bought him pretty cheaply out of the horses-in-training sale last year. Nick and I had a relatively shortlist we went through. We homed in on him and really worked hard to get him. I think we bought him very well, and he’s repaid us many times over. He was third at Royal Ascot, so we’ve been there, we’ve been to loads of really big days. It is absolutely fantastic.”
Soumillon said: “Carrytheone didn’t jump so good, so I was last in the first part of the race. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to be unlucky in the race again, so I brought him out, coming to the stands’ side.
“He made a great effort because it’s not easy to come out so early and, when I hit the front, he kept going until the end. He is a very generous horse. I was just hoping he didn’t give up in the last furlong because the ground is very deep today.
“The good thing was I had him really relaxed in the first part of the race. It is always very difficult to win this kind of race and I finished with a good win on a big day.”
Lattam’s jockey Ryan Sexton said: “Lattam has run very well. We thought the draw [22] was great and it’d be the big difference. All the action seemed to happen on the far side, and he’s a horse who needs plenty of cover. After a bit of a layoff, you couldn’t have asked for a better run.”
Richard Hannon said of Witch Hunter: “I am delighted, he never runs a bad race. It’s lovely that William [Stobart, owner] and his family are here today. He’s run so many good races throughout the year. He was unlucky not to win a G2 and slightly unlucky there [today], but he’s run a super race and got his head down at the right time to finish third. He is a pleasure.”