Bargain-buy chaser steals the show again after Champions Day shocks

The Racing Post's awards honour the best (and sometimes worst) performances and raise talking points from the last seven days of racing. This week's winners are . . .

Shock of the week

British Champions Day

Although the story of the week was Baaeed's unbeaten run coming to an end in the Champion Stakes in his final race, his odds-on defeat by Bay Bridge was part of a dream end to Champions Day for bookmakers.

When Inspiral lined up at 11-10 for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, Frankie Dettori had already steered 3-1 favourites Kinross and Emily Upjohn to wins in the Champions Sprint and Fillies & Mares Stakes.

The Frankie factor was in full flow but the Cheveley Park-owned filly was left at the start and could manage only sixth, to bring a crashing end to any Ascot accumulators which had been brewing nicely.

Bayside Boy's stunning late surge to get up at odds of 33-1 was another boost for the bookies before Shelir, the 80-1 complete outsider of the 20-runner Balmoral Handicap field, left punters scratching their heads further after the finale.

Shelir: 80-1 Balmoral winner one of several Champions Day shocksCredit: Mark Cranham

Feel-good win of the week

Hewick

Hewick has been a dream bargain-buy for Shark Hanlon, with the €850 purchase already having won the bet365 Gold Cup and Galway Plate in 2022 before the trainer made the bold decision to have a tilt at the American Grand National at Far Hills on Saturday.

Running on the same weekend as when he took last year's Durham National at Sedgefield, the significantly shorter trip proved no hindrance to the 167-rated chaser as he landed the $250,000 prize in New Jersey under Jordan Gainford.

The wide-margin success vindicated Hanlon's decision to spend around $20,000 to transport the horse to the United States, with a trip to Cheltenham for the Gold Cup in March now firmly on the agenda for connections.

Reappearance of the week

Galvin

Gold Cup fourth Galvin made the perfect return to action at Punchestown on Wednesday as he gave upwards of 12lb all round to take the feature Grade 3 chase for the second successive year.

Galvin jumped well under Davy Russell to give the trainer his eighth win in the last 12 runnings of an event he won twice with 2016 Gold Cup winner Don Cossack.

Galvin will next attempt to go one better than in last year's defeat by Frodon in the Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal on November 5. This comeback run should have put the Ronnie Bartlett-owned eight-year-old spot on for that test.

Galvin: made a smart reappearance at Punchestown on WednesdayCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Debut of the week

King Of Steel

The last two Derby winners, Desert Crown and Adayar, had their first wins in Nottingham maidens, so King Of Steel's winning debut at the same track certainly caught the eye on Wednesday.

The Amo Racing-owned colt is entered for the Epsom Classic next June, for which he earned quotes of 50-1 after a comfortable success under Adam Kirby.

Trainer David Loughnane described his juvenile as "a monster" and although acknowledging that, at 17 hands and 600kg, Epsom may not be ideal for King Of Steel, the excitement was evident for the Shropshire-based trainer, who added there was "a lot to look forward to".

Jockey of the week

Luke Scott

William Buick was crowned champion jockey for the first time at Ascot on Saturday, capping off a dominant season in which he shot more than 60 winners clear of nearest pursuer Hollie Doyle.

Benoit de la Sayette picked up the champion apprentice title, something which Buick shared with David Probert in 2008, after edging out Harry Davies in a sustained duel.

Both riders were rewarded for their consistency, but our award of the week goes to Luke Scott, who has made a fast start to life with Richard Newland. The 20-year-old jockey spent time with Olly Murphy before riding in point-to-points for Tom Weston last season.

After turning conditional for this campaign, Scott ended his boss's 74-day winless drought on Shetland Bus at Stratford this month and the pair combined again to land the feature £30,000 handicap chase at Fakenham on Friday.

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'It's a dream come true' - heroic Hewick lands American Grand National

Catch our in-depth review of the weekend's racing every Monday in the Racing Post. With big-race analysis from Classic-winning jockey George Baker, Chris Cook's take on the weekend action, eyecatchers from the Raceform team, weekly awards and much more, it is not to be missed.