British Champions Day produced one of the most memorable meetings of 2025. Fans in attendance witnessed a scintillating display in the feature event, two returning champions, and a pair of outrageous shock results.
Events began in unexceptional fashion, with odds-on favourite Trawlerman toughing it out to reclaim his Long Distance Cup title, while Aidan O’Brien’s Mission Central landed the new juvenile race on the card at 5/1. So far, so straightforward. Then the rollercoaster began.
Fahey Longshot Floors Group 1 Stars
Those taking the logical approach to the Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes gravitated towards proven Group 1 performer Lazzat, the clear 2/1 favourite. Defending champ Kind Of Blue came next in the market, followed by 2024 third Flora Of Bermuda, and recent Sprint Cup winner Big Mojo.
Of the others, Group 1 winners No Half Measures, Inisherin, Montassib, and Art Power looked the main dangers at double-figure odds. Punters had to scan all the way to the bottom of the betting to find Richard Fahey’s Powerful Glory. At 200/1, this unheralded challenger was twice the price of the next longest-priced runner.
Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes 2025 Result
| Pos. | Horse | SP | Trainer | Jockey |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Powerful Glory | 200/1 | Richard Fahey | Jamie Spencer |
| 2 | Lazzat | 2/1F | Jerome Reynier | James Doyle |
| 3 | Quinault | 66/1 | Stuart Williams | Sean Levey |
After finishing last of five in a Beverley conditions event in September, Powerful Glory hardly looked like a Group 1 winner in waiting. That opinion was backed up by a rating of 100, which placed him 20 pounds behind Lazzat. On the plus side, he scored in Group 2 company during his juvenile season and was more open to improvement than most.
Those clinging to those strands of hope were rewarded in spectacular style. Benefitting from a classic Jamie Spencer ride, Powerful Glory was switched off towards the rear, allowed to relax, and then worked his way into the race. The Cotai Glory colt still had work to do at the two-furlong marker but was beginning to find his stride as those in front started to tire.
Inside the final furlong, the outsider’s late charge looked set to reward each-way support. Market leader Lazzat appeared the most likely winner, having hit the front and moved two lengths clear. However, he couldn’t shake the terrier-like Powerful Glory, whose surge up the centre of the track steadily ate into the deficit. Getting up inside the final 20 yards, Spencer timed it to perfection to score by a neck.
Jamie Spencer appeared as stunned as anyone when the result was confirmed. However, for Richard Fahey, this was merely a successful end to a long-term plan, with the trainer stating:
“I always felt he was going to get there if that makes sense. It’s fantastic. It was the plan all year, genuinely.”
The Biggest Shock in Group 1 History
Soon after the result, the scale of Powerful Glory’s achievement sank in. The three-year-old became only the eighth horse in British Flat Racing history to win at 200/1 – no horse has ever won a British Flat race at a bigger price.
Those astronomical odds also made him the longest-priced winner of any European Group 1 event since the pattern began in 1971. He surpassed the record set by 150/1 chance Qirat in this season’s Sussex Stakes.
To find a comparable result, we need to go back to the pre-Group 1 days, with Theodore also defying 200/1 odds to land the 1822 St Leger Stakes.
Surprise Gift for Hills in QEII
Just as the dust settled on the seismic shock in the sprint, the betting gods produced another. This time, the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes set the stage for the unlikely 100/1 hero Cicero’s Gift to deliver the performance of his life.
Queen Elizabeth II Stakes 2025 Result
| Pos. | Horse | SP | Trainer | Jockey |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cicero’s Gift | 100/1 | Charles Hills | Jason Watson |
| 2 | The Lion In Winter | 12/1 | Aidan O’Brien | Christophe Soumillon |
| 3 | Alakazi | 22/1 | Johnny Murtagh | Ben Coen |
Second only to the Champion Stakes in terms of prize money, the one-mile highlight was expected to revolve around the returning Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes winner Field Of Gold. If not the John and Thady Gosden star, perhaps this would be the race when the talented Rosallion finally re-entered the Group 1 winners’ enclosure.
Whoever won, it surely wouldn’t be an injury-prone contender whose only previous Group 1 outing resulted in defeat by over eight lengths. Cicero’s Gift had in fact never won at any higher than Listed level from 14 previous outings. Throw in the fact that the good ground was supposedly against the Charles Hills runner, and those odds of 100/1 were easy to understand.
However, as Powerful Glory had already advertised, this was not a day when the results paid any respect to the odds. Kept to the far rail, Cicero’s Gift quickened smartly for Jason Watson, maintained his momentum, and hit the front to score by one and a quarter lengths, leaving Field Of Gold, Rosallion, and the rest left trailing in his wake.
There were no records for the five-year-old who, after all, wasn’t even the longest-priced winner on the Champions Day card. Still, the success meant everything to Charles Hills, coming in the year that he lost his legendary father, Barry Hills. Reflecting on the result, the Lambourn handler said:
“As a family we’ve stayed strong and the old man looking down will be so chuffed I’d say.”
Jason Watson, meanwhile, was left in tears by his first Group 1 victory since claiming the 2019 edition of the Fillies Mile with Quadrilateral. However, Part-owner Charlie Parker perhaps summed up the feelings of most in attendance when he said:
“I didn’t think he had any chance at all.”