As the 2021 Flat campaign starts to wind down to the iconic British Champions Day at Ascot in mid-October, the season’s finale where the cream of the crop will be crowned the best horse in their respective categories, now seems like the perfect time to take a look back at some of this year’s stand-out performers — many of whom will have brought those who enjoy dipping their toes into the racing betting waters plenty of joy over the last couple of months.
St Mark’s Basilica
It wouldn’t be a list of the best horses this season without one (or two) from Aidan O’Brien’s renowned Irish stables featuring, and we’re kicking off with St Mark’s Basilica, who is one of the favourites for the middle distance Champion Stakes on Champions Day. After a hit-and-miss maiden season last year, the three-year-old ended the campaign with a surprise victory in the Group1 Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket in October. And, he has picked up where he left off, winning all of his races so far this season (all of which were at Group 1 level) —starting with the Poule d’Essai des Poulains at Longchamp, before winning the Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly and the Sandown Eclipse.
Palace Pier
The John Gosden-trained Palace Pier had a disappointing end to last season, coming home in third in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in October. However, he bounced back in some fashion this season, winning the Group 2 Mile at Sandown by some eight lengths, before landing his first top-group victory of the season in the Al Shaqab Lockgine Stakes at Newbury – a race he was heavily backed to win in the horse racing betting tips. The odds-on favourite for the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot, Gosden’s horse duly delivered, beating the O’Brien-trained Lope Y Fernandez over the line by a length and a half. Palace Pier will be hoping to put things right in the Queen Elizabeth II later this year, and he’s already the 5/2 favourite.
Baaeed
Palace Pier could have his work cut out in the one-mile Queen Elizabeth II Stakes though, as new boy on the scene Baaeed is hot on his heels in the ante-post betting for the Group 1 British Champions Mile race. The William Haggas-trained horse won a maiden race at Leicester and a novices’ outing at Newmarket to get his career off to the perfect start, before landing the Listed Sir Henry Cecil Stakes at the Newmarket July Festival. His winning streak continued at Glorious Goodwood, as he beat El Drama over the line by over six lengths in the Group 3 Thoroughbred Stakes. The Celebration Mile back at Goodwood will be a real test of his mettle before heading to Ascot for Champions Day.
Snowfall
Favourite for the British Champions Fillies & Mares at Ascot, Snowfall is another three-year-old from O’Brien’s yard that has had quite the season this year. A mixed bag last year, with just one win from seven races, it’s somewhat of a surprise just how much Snowfall his kicked on this year. She started the campaign with a Group 3 victory in the Musidora Stakes from 14/1, before winning the Oaks at Epsom by some 16 lengths — her first Group 1 victory. That top-group win has since been backed up with another comfortable triumph in the Irish Oaks. O’Brien will have the Yorkshire Oaks in his sights before sending the horse to Ascot for Champions Day.
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Poetic Flare, trained by Jim Bolger, has also had quite the season, winning the 2,000 Guineas and the St James’s Palace Stakes, while Alcohol Free has two Group 1 victories to her name this season, winning the Coronation Cup at Royal Ascot and the Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.
