Balmoral Handicap (sponsored By Qipco)
(British Champions Series)
Handicap, Ascot 16:30
£200,000 guaranteed,
3yo plus, 1m, Class 2   
Saturday 15th October 2022

FormRatings

1 Shelir 80/1
2 Sweet Believer 8/1
3 Tacarib Bay 16/1
4 Safe Voyage 28/1
20 ran Distances: 1½l, 1½l, ½l
Time: 1m 44.69s (slow by 5.99s)

David O’Meara saddled his third winner of the race as complete outsider Shelir burst through late on to capture Europe’s richest mile handicap by a length and a half.

Shelir, whose success brings up a century of winners for his trainer this season, had never won off a mark this high but travelled powerfully amongst horses before clicking into overdrive in the final furlong. The six-year-old provided jockey Jason Watson with his first winner on QIPCO British Champions Day.

Sweet Believer fared best of the William Haggas-trained pair in second, with well-backed stablemate Bashkirova failing to threaten. Tacarib Bay ran a big race in the first-time blinkers to take third, with nine-year-old Safe Voyage fourth.

O’Meara, who took the prize with Lord Glitters in 2017 and Escobar in 2019, said: “I am delighted – there is no other way to feel. I came in here with five chances. Shelir wasn’t the obvious one but we felt he raced too keen on his last visit down here, so we made a big effort to get him switched off and it paid dividends today. 

“Escobar ran really well with a load of weight on his back. Orbaan probably wants better ground. Rhoscolyn was a little bit too keen and maybe didn’t quite see out the mile on the soft ground. Blue For You was maybe a touch disappointing, but didn’t have the best trip through the race.”

FormRatings

Watson said: “David O'Meara is an unbelievable trainer. He had five horses in the Balmoral and he said 'look I couldn't tell you which one is going to run better, but they all have a squeak.

“We had a citation bridle on this horse for the first time today as he had been over-racing in his last couple of races. David said to ride him cold and for a bit of prize money. 

“Shelir took me into the race really nicely and I was one of the last ones off the bridle. I can't believe how well he picked up. It was a career-best performance and an amazing training performance.

“Shelir has been running in big-field handicaps and won a big race at York. He was rated 103 at the back-end of last season. He had been running OK in these sort of races, but today the market didn't fancy him and David somehow manages to keep these horses in the form that he does. That is 100 winners for the season for him now."

BetGoodwiin

Balmoral Handicap (sponsored By Qipco)
£200,000 guaranteed, 3yo plus, 1m, Class 2
20 ran
Going: Good to Soft, Soft in places

POS. (DRAW) DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 11     Shelir 6 9-5 David O'Meara Jason Watson 80/1
2 (20) 1½ Sweet Believer 4 9-5 William Haggas Adam Farragher 8/1
3 (2) 1½ Tacarib Bay 3 9-4 Richard Hannon Pat Dobbs 16/1
4 (13) ½ Safe Voyage 9 9-3 John Quinn Hollie Doyle 28/1
5 (14) ½ Orbaan 7 9-3 David O'Meara Neil Callan 11/1
6 (4) nk Montatham 6 9-5 William Haggas Jim Crowley 18/1
7 (18) nk Accidental Agent 8 9-11 Eve Johnson Houghton Charles Bishop 33/1
8 (23) ¾ Migration 6 9-12 David Menuisier William Buick 15/2
9 (1) ½ Perotto 4 9-3 Marcus Tregoning Harry Davies 22/1
10 (16) ¾ Escobar 8 10-2 6ex David O'Meara Adam Kirby 12/1
11 (10) hd Tyrrhenian Sea 4 9-8 Roger Varian Andrea Atzeni 10/1
12 (19) nk Bashkirova 4 9-7 William Haggas Tom Marquand 9/2F
13 (5) 1 Casanova 6 9-3 Adrian McGuinness Adam Caffrey 40/1
14 (21) ½ Magical Morning 5 9-8 John & Thady Gosden Benoit De La Sayette 33/1
15 (17) hd Blue For You 4 9-5 David O'Meara Daniel Tudhope 7/1
16 (3) nk Johan 5 9-8 Mick Channon David Egan 28/1
17 (8) 1 Symbolize 5 9-5 Andrew Balding Callum Hutchinson 20/1
18 (6) 1¼ Stormy Antarctic 9 9-6 Ed Walker Richard Kingscote 28/1
19 (7) 7 Rhoscolyn 4 9-5 David O'Meara James Doyle 16/1
20 (22) 3 Astro King 5 9-4 Sir Michael Stoute Ryan Moore 18/1

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