Benbatl and Bin Battuta primed for Champions Day challenge

Benbatl could get the chance to bid for a fourth G1 victory in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Saturday, providing conditions on British Champions Day at Ascot are suitable for the five-year-old.

The Dubawi entire is set to remain at a mile following an impressive success over the same distance on his seasonal return in the G2 Joel Stakes at Newmarket on Sept. 27, when he made all for a five-length verdict over King Of Comedy.

Benbatl, trained by Saeed Bin Suroor and ridden by Oisin Murphy, ran two excellent races over 10 furlongs in Australia last autumn, finishing second to Winx in the G1 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley and gamely winning the G1 Caulfield Stakes at Caulfield.

He also posted decisive G1 victories in 2018 in the Grosser Dallmayr Preis over a mile and a quarter at Munich, Germany, in July and the nine-furlong Dubai Turf on Dubai World Cup Night at Meydan, UAE, in March.

A field of 16 for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes also includes recent G2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein winner The Revenant, G1 2,000 Guineas scorer Magna Grecia and Lord Glitters, successful over the course and distance in the G1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Suroor said: “Benbatl won nicely at the Newmarket on his latest start and has done well since. I have been pleased with his work but we know that he doesn’t like heavy ground – he ran on it once at Haydock and didn’t enjoy it at all.

“We have declared him and will check the ground at Ascot on Saturday.”

Bin Battuta, another son of Dubawi trained by Bin Suroor, steps up to two miles for the first time in the G2 British Champions Long Distance Cup after edging out Commander Cole in a 10-furlong Polytrack handicap at Chelmsford City on Sept. 28.

The five-year-old, who is ridden by Hector Crouch, comfortably beat subsequent G3 German St Leger victor Ispolini in a 12-furlong turf handicap at this year’s Dubai World Cup Carnival and captured a similar contest at Ascot in July, 2017.

His nine rivals are headed by Champion stayer Stradivarius, who is seeking an 11th consecutive victory.

Suroor said: “We feel that Bin Battuta has a chance of staying this distance and he has being going well at home since winning at Chelmsford City. He has never raced on this type of ground so we will have to see how he copes with it.”

Godolphin is also represented in the mile Balmoral Handicap on the card by Commander Cole (Suroor/Cieren Fallon) and G2 winner Dark Vision (Mark Johnston/William Buick).

Meanwhile, Wootton, runner-up in the G1 Jebel Hatta Sponsored By Emirates Airline in March, headlines a clutch of Godolphin runners seeking Listed honours at Longchamp in France on Sunday.

The four-year-old, trained by Charlie Appleby and ridden by William Buick, features among four Godolphin contenders for the Prix du Ranelagh over a mile.

He is joined by the Andre Fabre-trained duo of Mount Pelion (Mickael Barzalona), a course and distance winner in September, and Magny Cours (Pierre-Charles Boudot), who makes his first start since finishing second in the G3 Prix Exbury in March.

Broderie (Henri-Alex Pantall/Vincent Cheminaud) also goes in the Prix du Ranelagh, with the Pivotal filly having already scored at Listed level and twice placed in G3 company in Germany this season.

Firebird Song (Henri-Alex Pantall/Mickael Barzalona) has won a Listed race in Germany this year as well and the three-year-old goes in the seven-furlong Listed Prix de Saint-Cyr along with Orchid Star (Charlie Appleby/William Buick), who was sixth in the G3 Nell Gwyn Stakes on her latest appearance at Newmarket in April.

Wishfully (Henri-Alex Pantall/Barzalona) was narrowly beaten into third in the nine-furlong Listed Kolner Stutenpreis at Cologne, Germany, in September and the three-year-old filly runs over the same trip in the Listed Prix Casimir Delamarre.