FRANCE should be competitive at Qipco Champions day at Ascot this afternoon. Sent to Francis Graffard at Chantilly in a quest for soft ground at the beginning of the season, Bateel has excelled on her last three runs and is set to take her chance in the Champion Fillies and Mares. The daughter of Dubawi has also won on good ground in the Prix de Pomone at Deauville where she beat Traffic Jam (won well since, mentioned in reports). Bateel went on to land the Group 1 Prix Vermeille when she dominated the final stages ahead of Journey and Left Hand (set to reoppose).

FRESH

Nicolas Clement’s The Juliet Rose is also set to run and she is a fresh filly having started her season in August with a fourth in the Pomone. She stripped much fitter for the Prix de Royallieu and stayed on bravely after making all the running.

Andre Fabre has prepared Al Wukair especially for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and he has a good chance of being involved in the finish. Third to Churchill in the 2000 Guineas, he pounced at exactly the right moment when winning the Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois by an inch.

Brametot runs in the Champion Stakes and this dual classic winner is back to his best distance after as fifth to Enable in the Arc de Triomphe. He had previously narrowly picked up both the Poule d’Essai des Poulains and the Prix du Jockey Club.

Recoletos may also run in the Champion Stakes. He loves cut in the ground and he is the recent winner of a Group 3 event but is held by Brametot on earlier form.

Bateel, Al Wukair and Brametot look like France’s best hopes of a winner