British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes Runners & Riders  

Among five season-ending championships, the British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes is exclusive to female horses. It is one of the two middle distance showpieces on what often proves British racing’s curtain call event and has helped to distinguish some star performers since its inception.

The runners and riders for the event can be found here as the race approaches the off.

Runners and riders to follow

Who are the Top Three Favourites to Win this Year’s British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes?

A set of runners usually separate themselves from the opposition as a big race approaches, and in the British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes, there are three horses who have done so. The 1m4f can be a specialist distance, with enough stamina required to last home, with the following trio fancied to fare best after a long season.

Bluestocking

The Juddmonte colours have been carried by some remarkably talented fillies and mares in recent seasons, with Enable being chief among those. However, she never ran in this contest, whereas Bluestocking looks more than likely to, and will therefore have a wonderful chance of adding those silks to the roll of honour. She broke through at Group 1 level this season and has made the frame in open company in the King George and Juddmonte International Stakes too.

Content

Initially seen as a miler this season, it has only been since Content stepped up in trip that we have witnessed such marked improvement. Third to Bluestocking in the Pretty Polly Stakes, she was then a close second in the Irish Oaks before winning the all-age Yorkshire Oaks for her Group 1 breakthrough. She is more than likely to keep improving and will get weight allowances as a three-year-old.

Kalpana

Kalpana represents exactly the same owners as Bluestocking, carrying the famous green and pink silks of Juddmonte. Trained by Andrew Balding, she has won four of her seven starts, but has been brought along gradually. Despite defeat at Royal Ascot, she has subsequently won at Listed and Group 3 level by a combined nine lengths, the latter against older horses. She may be improving quick enough to overhaul all her rivals here.

British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes Horse Entries & Selections

There is a maximum stipulated field of 19 runners in the British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes, though a field narrowly above ten is the par for the contest. Horses will only become balloted out above the 19 threshold, although this is unlikely.

Three-year-olds receive a 6lb in weight from those aged four and upwards. This has evidently been put to good use given eight of the last ten winners have represented the youngest age group.

Andrew Mount and Matty Sutcliffe will be on hand shortly to provide their tips and selections in the race, as British Champions Day is now fast approaching. 

Which Trainers Have Historically Had the Most Success in the British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes?

It is John Dunlop, father of not one but two subsequent trainers like himself, who has trained the most fillies and mares to snare this prize. Impressively, his first and ninth winners spanned forty years, with Predicament having won in 1966, while Acts Of Grace completed his set in 2006.

Sir Michael Stoute is the closest to matching him having sent out seven winners of his own accord, the most recent being when Crystal Capella won her second edition of the race in 2010. When it comes to jockeys, Lester Piggott’s tally of eight sees him out on his own in this spectacle’s regard, though Frankie Dettori was creeping closer before his move to America, having amassed his sixth success with Emily Upjohn in 2022.

Runners & Riders Past Winners

Year	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Odds
2023	Poptronic	Karl Burke	Sam James	22/1
2022	Emily Upjohn	John & Thady Gosden	Frankie Dettori	3/1F
2021	Eshaada	Roger Varian	Jim Crowley	16/1
2020	Wonderful Tonight	David Menuisier	William Buick	4/1F
2019	Star Catcher	John Gosden	Frankie Dettori	7/4F
2018	Magical	Aidan O’Brien	Ryan Moore	5/1
2017	Hydrangea	Aidan O’Brien	Ryan Moore	4/1
2016	Journey	John Gosden	Frankie Dettori	4/1
2015	Simple Verse	Ralph Beckett	Andrea Atzeni	5/1
2014	Madame Chiang	David Simcock	Jim Crowley	12/1