Always one of the most eagerly anticipated late-season fixtures of the year, Champions Day at Ascot once again lived up to the billing thanks to the exploits of Kyprios, Charyn, Kalpana, Kind Of Blue, and shock Champion Stakes winner Anmaat.
Away from the action on the track, the fixture also saw the crowning of the Champion Trainer, Jockey, Apprentice Jockey, and Owner of 2024. Here, we take a look at the stars who shone brightest in another memorable campaign.
Champion Trainer – Aidan O’Brien
Whilst not officially over until the end of the calendar year, Ballydoyle supremo Aidan O’Brien has already confirmed himself as the British Champion trainer for 2024 – over £3m ahead of his nearest pursuer in this prize money-determined race, it is now impossible for anyone to catch him.
In winning this award for the seventh time, O’Brien picked up 31 wins on British soil, including 11 Group 1s en route to an insurmountable prize money total of £8,823,381. Highlights of the season included City Of Troy’s Group 1 hattrick, headlined by the Epsom Derby, a top-level double from the remarkable Kyprios, and Jan Brueghel’s victory in a thrilling edition of the St. Leger Stakes.
In also claiming the Irish Trainers Championship, O’Brien has replicated the feat of Willie Mullins over jumps, with 2024 marking the first time in history that both the British flat and jumps titles have been claimed by an Irish-based handler.
Champion Jockey – Oisin Murphy
The race to become Champion Jockey was a similarly one-sided affair. Having relinquished his title to William Buick in 2022 and 2023, the 2019, 2020, and 2021 champ Oisin Murphy bounced back to come out on top for a fourth time – finishing 53 winners ahead of runner-up Rossa Ryan, with Tom Marquand back in third.
Relentless from the moment the season began, Murphy kept up the pace in the final week of the season with an impressive tally of 10 wins from 33 rides, seeing him pull further clear at the top. His final tally of 163 wins is the second-highest total since the championship was restructured to run from 2000 Guineas Day to Champions Day in 2015 – and only six short of the 169 tally Murphy produced in 2019. Not bad for a man so recently on the wrong end of a 14-month ban for two positive alcohol tests, misleading officials, and breaching health regulations.
In providing Murphy with 66 winners, Andrew Balding was Murphy’s chief partner in crime over the course of the season, but the rider’s most notable successes came at Royal Ascot, where he picked up a Group 1 double aboard Khaadem (Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes) and Asfoora (King Charles III Stakes).
Champion Apprentice Jockey – Sean Dylan Bowen
Whereas the Champion trainer and jockey races could be called long before the season reached its final furlong, the same can’t be said for the battle to become the Champion Apprentice for 2024. Locked together almost throughout the season, Joe Leavy and Sean Dylan Bowen remained all but inseparable headed into the final weeks.
For only the third time since the 2015 season restructure, the race went into the final day of the season at Catterick, with Bowen holding a three-win lead over Leavy. When Leavy landed race two aboard Morandi Second, that lead became two. It then appeared that Leavy would take the fight right down to the wire when hitting the front aboard odds-on shot Small Fry in race four, only to be overhauled on the run to the line. Finally, it was over – two behind with only one ride remaining, Leavy had to settle for second best.
Bowen then put the icing on the cake by claiming his 45th and final win of the year aboard Racingbreaks Ryder. This represents a remarkable achievement for Bowen, who only had his first ride in Britain in April, having relocated from Ireland in search of greater opportunities.
Champion Owner – Godolphin
Famous names filled the top five positions on the owner’s table, with the Boys in Blue of Godolphin coming out on top ahead of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum, the Coolmore combo of Mrs John Magnier, Mr M. Tabor, & Mr D. Smith, Juddmonte, and Shadwell.
The Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum-backed owner/breeder powerhouse claimed this prize for the 16th time, having racked up an impressive £4,533,484 in total prize money – over £1.75m ahead of their nearest pursuer. Top earner Notable Speech was responsible for two of Godolphin’s five domestic Group 1s, courtesy of his sizzling displays in the 2000 Guineas and Sussex Stakes.