Here's the on the via Oddschecker:

Talk of New York 4/1

pulled up quickly after that last race and has been taken back to the stables for examination. More news as and when.

3.20 Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Group One, 1m (straight)

Aidan O'Brien's first big chance to put the trainers' title to bed comes via his three-year-old who has supported down to favourite today and goes to post as the top-rated runner in the field on figures.

He has been an exceptional servant to the yard with wins including the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf last year and the Irish 2,000 Guineas earlier this season, but spent much of the first part of the campaign trying, and failing, to cope with the outstanding, and now sadly retired, Bow Echo.

Minnie Hauk has now broken the O'Brien Group One jinx on Champions Day, and has an obvious chance to further relegate that very un-O'Brien-like losing streak to the pages of history.

Charlie Appleby's is next in the betting, and fully deserves this tilt at a Group One after progressing steadily up the rungs of the ladder over the last six months, including an emphatic win in the Joel Stakes last time out.

It would be remiss to ignore the 50-1 winner of the Queen Anne Stakes here at the Royal meeting, although today's pace may not play quite so well to his hold-up run style.

the half-length runner-up behind Ten Bob Tony in the Queen Anne, and Eve Johnson Houghton's impressive in the Celebration Mile at Goodwood last time, also need considering, but I'll take a chance on another three-year-old, the French-trained to further improve Francis-Henri Graffard's record in the UK.

He's 2-2 in Group Ones over a mile, has just half a dozen races in the book in all and has been refreshed by a break since his win in the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville in August

That's also Aidan O'Brien's first Group One winner on Champions Day since Champion Stakes win in 2019. What's that they say about London buses?

A straightforward win for as simply failed to fire, no doubt feeling the effects of a long season and a hard race in the Arc 13 days ago.

was perfectly positioned behind his pacemaker and could pick his moment to go for home in the straight.

A major swing towards in the title race, with two big runners still to come in the next two races, which have a total of £2.4m in prize money to chase.

1. MINNIE HAUK 5-1, 2. Believed 16-1, Lilt 6-1. 12 ran.

Sugar Island continues to lead with Minnie Hauk close behind, Kalapana is up into fifth but isn't travelling like she can …

Into the straight, Sugar Island leads but Minnie Hauk takes over, Kalpana not finding much …

Minnie Hauk goes for home, Kalpana is beaten … Lilt in pursuit of Minnie Hauk but this is going to be a big blow for Aidan O'Brien, Minnie Hauk wins it!

Kalpana was last after a furlong and is now three from the back after half a mile, Aidan O'Brien's runners are 1 and 2 …

Kalapana was slowly away from stall one, she's not going to be perfectly placed …

Off and running in the FIllies and Mares Stakes!

The punters are playing up their winnings from Almeraq, and is now an even-money favourite with steady at around 9-2. has also attracted a bit of money to around 17-2 to give William Haggas a quickfire double.

Another line from earlier on. Here's PJ McDonald on his needle-threading winning ride on Mount Atlas.

I am very happy to be a small part of a huge team. I am also very happy to have a horse like him, because how brave was he in the final furlong. The way the race panned out for me, it opened up just at the right time and he was through the gap and on the line before he really knew what was going on. It was tight and he answered for me. When I sat into him, he stuck his head in there and moved through.

net positive from the Long Distance Cup was £169k, as Aidan O'Brien saddled both the second and fifth home.

It's another £283,500 first prize in the next, with £107,500 for the runner-up, so with and expected to set off at the head of the betting, this could yet be seen as the race that made all the difference when the dust on the trainers' title race finally settles.

Here's the latest prices for the courtesy of Oddschecker:

See the Fire 28/1

28/1 BAR

2.40 British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes, Group One, 1m 4f

The punters will be on better terms with themselves after Almeraq's success in the last and now there's another solid favourite to get stuck into in the shape of Andrew Balding's who bides to end her career on a high with a third straight success in this race.

Her task has been eased somewhat following the news that the Irish Oaks winner earlier in the season, has been scratched after failing to eat up this morning.

In her absence, Aidan O'Brien's is her main rival in the betting, although last year's Arc runner-up will need to improve significantly on her form so far this year if who was a fair way ahead of her in this season's Arc 13 days ago, is anywhere close to her best.

a lightly-raced three-year-old from the William Haggas stable, also has a chance on her form behind Thundering On, the Oaks winner, at the Curragh last time out, while a close second behind Kalapana in the Yorkshire Oaks in August, is another runner at a double-figure price that deserves consideration.

All in all, though, it's very hard to see past if she runs anywhere close to her best.

Impressive by who might have preferred a slightly softer surface but still ran down with something to spare after Edward Bethell's runner got a jump on his rivals against the far rail.

That could well be final start before he heads off to a new career as a stallion. A memorable conclusion to his racing career, if so.

1. ALMERAQ 11-10 fav, 2. Paborus 18-1, 3. Division 17-2, 4. Coppull 11-1. 16 ran.

Power Blue leads far side with SOul Love, Coppull there too and they're heading to the far side ..

leads far rail, he leads a furlong out but Almeraq is closing, he's running him down and the favourite is going to get there!

Off and running in the Champions Sprint!

They're at the post for the Champions Sprint. Almeraq is a rock-solid favourite at 11-10, but might there be another boilover?

has just become the first trainer in British Flat racing history to pass in prize money in a single season. And yet, he's still perhaps a marginal outsider to win the title, as best chances are yet to come.

Here's the latest odds on the Sprint Stakes via Oddschecker:

Kind of Blue 16/1

16/1 BAR

2.05 British Champions Sprint Stakes, Group One, 6f

Welcome to the Twilight Zone, a six-furlong sprint down the straight course where anything can happen and frequently does. Last year's winner was a 200-1 chance, while went in at 40-1 two years before that, and there have been winners too at 33-1 and 28-1 since 2018.

There is a decent set-up for another surprise today, as the warm favourite, has the best form including two Group One wins, in the Sprint Cup at Haydock and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Stakes over course and distance in June, but seems at his best with some cut in the ground. He also tends to be held up in his races, which is not an ideal run-style on this six-furlong strip, and while he got away with it in June, today's race may not unfold in quite the same way.

There are plenty of each-way alternatives to the 6-5 favourite, including the three-year-old fourth home in the Commonwealth Cup here in June.

is also a live runner for Francis-Henri Graffard's burgeoning operation in Chantilly, having won the Group One Prix Mauriuce du Gheest at Deauville in August.

And I'll be having a few quid each-way on Clive Cox's who ended up on the wrong side in the Commonwealth Cup in June (see above), did not like the soft ground at Haydock last time and has otherwise performed with credit in a series of strong events, including a fourth place in the three months ago.

had a quick chat with ITV Racing's Matt Chapman on the way back to the winner's enclosure.

We were taking a chance on two miles, but he loves Ascot and PJ gave him a brilliant ride. It was great to do it in those colours too.

What a result for the stable, a Group One winner that few saw coming and £283,500 added to the prize-money haul.

PJ McDonald worked wonders to find a way through on against the rail, and ran down O'Brien's Queenstown, who got a top-notch front-running ride from Ryan Moore, well inside the final furlong.

Great to see the famous colours of the late owner-breeder Paul Mellon aboard the winner too. They are now used by the and were perhaps most famously carried to victory by the great in the Derby, King George and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 1971 – the year that Balding's father, Ian, won the trainers' title for the first and only time.

1. MOUNT ATLAS 33-1, 2. Queenstown 14-1, 3. Highwayman 7-4 fav. 10 ran.

Halfway now, no major changes in the running order …

Queenstown now moves into the lead and will lead into the straight …

Gregory moves through into second, Amelia Earhart coming too, and here's Mount Atlas for Andrew Balding …

Queenstown in front but here comes Mount Atlas! Andrew Balding strikes in the Long Distance Cup with a 33-1 outsider!

Now Quickthorn and Queenstown go into a six-length lead, Gregory leads the pursuit with Highwayman …

Off and running in the Long Distance Cup …

It's a level break, and Queenstown leads early from Daiquiri Bay, Gregory close up and now Quickthorn comes through to lead …

Going to post for the Long Distance Cup, remains favourite at around 9-4 while is a little easier to back at around 100-30.

Eve Johnson Houghton was in fine form after her win with in the opener.

I thought he might get a mile [at three] when he won over seven furlongs, but who cares? We're just going to have fun next year, knowing what we've done this year.

Fifteen minutes to the off in the the first of today's Group One races, and Oddschecker have been in touch with the latest prices:

Caballo de Mar 11/2

20/1 BAR

Challenges do not come any better-timed than Charles Bishop's late thrust on Night In Vegas.

His total haul of prize money for the syndicate is now more than £700k, an astonishing return for a juvenile that cost just 60,000gns (£63k) at Tattersalls' Book 3 sale last year.

1.30 British Champions Long Distance Cup, Group One, 1m 7f 209yd

The first of the card's Group One races lost the biggest name in the field when , the winner at the Royal meeting here in June, was ruled out by Aidan O'Brien earlier in the week, but in his absence it promises to be a much more competitive event for the punters to unpick.

Highwayman, who provided Saffie Osborne with a moment of Classic history when he took the St Leger at Doncaster last month, is the main representative of the three-year-old generation, with his regular jockey, Dylan Browne McMonagle, back in the saddle after recovering from injury.

He's up against the winner of the Queen's Vase over this track and trip at the Royal meeting in 2024, who is three years older but has few miles on the clock having had an injury-affected career.

meanwhile, is in the form of his life, and arrives at Ascot o the back of victories in both the Group Two Doncaster Cup and the Group One Prix du Cadran at Longchamp two weeks ago, when he beat Scandinavia into second place.

the Ebor Handicap winner in August, adds further spice to the mix – last year's Ebor winner, after all, went on to take the Breeders' Cup Turf in California a couple of months later. Personally, though, I feel is the runner with the greatest scope for improvement, not least as today's race will be his first start at two miles.

A fabulous finish to the opener on Champions Day as gets up in the final stride to deny on the nodwith close behind in third.

juvenile is now one of the bigger money-earners in British two-year-old racing history, but has yet to win a Group race at any level.

1. NIGHT IN VEGAS 5-2, 2. Arapaho Gold 9-4 fav, 3. Satellite Of Love 4-1. 11 ran.

Off and running in the 12.55 Ascot !

The runners that could decide the trainers' title

has eight runners on today's card, starting with in the opener and followed up by:

(1.30), (1.30), (2.40), (2.40), (3.20), (3.20) and finally in the Champion Stakes at 4.00.

(1.30), (2.05), (2.40), (2.40) and (4.35).

12.55 Ascot, latest betting

Here are the latest prices on the opening juvenile event at Ascot, courtesy of Oddschecker.

Night in Vegas- 7/2

Satellite of Love- 4/1

Speed of Sound- 14/1

12.55 British Champions Day Two-Year-Old Conditions Stakes, 6f

They will be in the parade ring imminently ahead of the most recent addition to the Champions Day schedule is still too young to have earned Pattern-race status, but last year's winner, followed up in the Group One King Charles III Stakes at the Royal meeting here in the summer so it is off to a very strong start.

The favourite for the latest renewal is who was the best horse at the weights when third in the Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury last time.

He is top-rated by too, but the current form of his trainer, Michael Dods, has to be a concern as he has not saddled a single winner from 30 runners over the past two weeks.

has been making hay in a series of races linked to yearling sales and auction prices, amassing nearly £600k in the process, and has a very decent chance of adding another £128k here, and had back in the second when the pair were the 1-2 in the sales race at Doncaster's St Leger meeting. On a strict reading of the form, though, Satellite Of Love should be ahead of Night In Vegas today – he's 7lb better off for a half-length beating.

only runner, finished last on his most recent outing and is unfancied in the betting, but in the first colours of the Godolphin operation, is definitely worth considering – he's taking a significant drop in class after finishing fifth in the Group One Middle Park Stakes last time.

But I'm going to take an each-way punt on the apparent Godolphin second-string, Victory Gold. Runners from Saeed bin Suroor's stable tend to go under the radar these days, but he has maintained an impressive strike-rate despite playing second-fiddle to Charlie Appleby for much of the last decade. And his runners are definitely worth a closer look when he books to ride – they have teamed up to record a 30pc strike-rate and a significant level-stakes profit over the last six seasons.

Welcome to Ascot on , ahead of a seven-race card that stands at least a fair degree of comparison with the end-of-season jamborees in two weeks ago, and in later this month.

For that, we owe thanks to the long, dry summer that has extended into mid-October. That means in turn that this year's card will be one of the few without the word "soft" somewhere in the going description (although it is also, as the Racing Post's columnist Richard Forristal pointed out earlier this week, "a pity that it required the world to burn for the event to work").

But here we are, with seven races including five Group Ones and an unusually live race for the Flat trainers' championship between and which could effectively be decided today.

Balding's main hope is , the favourite, in the Fillies & Mares Stakes at 2.40, while O'Brien has several decent chances scattered through the card, the most obvious being in the £1.1m at 3.20 and in the feature event, the £1.3m , at 4.00.

Shock winners were the order of the day last year, when the Sprint was won by a 200-1 shot and the QEII by a 100-1 chance, so the punters may well approach the proceedings with a degree of trepidation.

My picks for the seven races are here – underneath an interview with the immensely impressive new 20-year-old champion jockey, – and we are underway at 12.55 with the Two-Year-Old Conditions Stakes.