Champions Day: juvenile conditions race added and Long Distance Cup promoted to Group 1 - plus Champions Series set to end

A new £250,000 two-year-old conditions race has been added to Qipco British Champions Day for 2025.

The 6f contest, for which details will be confirmed later in the year, has been announced alongside the promotion of the Long Distance Cup at the same fixture to a Group 1 by the European Pattern Committee.

While Champions Day has received additional backing, the British Champions Series (BCS) will end after 14 years. Created in 2011, the BCS had promoted 35 top-level races during the Flat season starting at the Guineas meeting at Newmarket running through to finish on Champions Day in October.

Instead of promoting the BCS, British Champions Series chief executive Rod Street, said the focus would be on the Hall of Fame and Club 26, a racing club aimed at people aged between 18-26.

Street said: “A valuable two-year-old race has long been an aspiration of ours and our sponsor. We are delighted to have created a new race and one we can develop in the years to come. Our intention is to secure Pattern status for the race as soon as possible and we will be working with the BHA to achieve that.

“The series was helpful in creating focus on the road that led to Champions Day, especially in the early years, but its profile and purpose have been superseded by two newer assets: Club 26 and the Hall of Fame.”

Champions Day will offer total prize-money of £4.35 million this year after the Long Distance Cup had its prize fund increased by £50,000 to £500,000.

Last year, Qipco confirmed it would continue to sponsor Champions Day until at least 2026. David Redvers, racing manager to Qatar Racing and spokesman for Qipco, said: “We are proud to see that the Long Distance Cup has been upgraded and the introduction of a new juvenile race is a welcome addition and goes further towards making this one of the greatest championship days in horseracing worldwide. 

“Sheikh Fahad and his brothers are also delighted to see the evolution of the Hall of Fame and that Club 26 has rapidly become one of the largest and most successful clubs of its type in horseracing.”

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