John and Thady Gosden set to secure British Flat trainers' championship as they extend lead over Aidan O'Brien

John and Thady Gosden likely sealed the Flat trainers’ championship with Trawlerman’s success in the Long Distance Cup on Qipco British Champions Day.

The Gosdens’ lead over Aidan O’Brien was extended to £467,487 after the Ascot card on Saturday, with Trawlerman and Sweet William, the first and third in the stayers’ race, earning £337,350 in prize-money. Free Wind’s fifth in the Fillies & Mares Stakes and Nashwa’s sixth in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes took the Gosdens’ total to £6.92 million.

Kyprios fared best of O’Brien’s runners when second to Trawlerman, with the Ballydoyle trainer’s earnings in Britain in 2023 now £6.45 million, with the championship running until the end of the year.

O’Brien could run Diego Velazquez in the Kameko Futurity Trophy at Doncaster next Saturday, but the first prize is £118,400 and the lead appears unassailable. Gosden snr is seeking a sixth title, while it would be a first championship for Thady Gosden since joining the licence in 2021.

Prize-money totals after Champions Day

The Gosdens: £6,923,769
Aidan O'Brien:  £6,456,282

Champion jockey William Buick with champion apprentice Billy LoughnaneCredit: Edward Whitaker

William Buick lifted the Flat jockeys’ title trophy for the second consecutive year having ridden 135 winners since the championship started on Guineas weekend in May.

Buick said: “It was always important to me to win the title again. There is a lot that goes into it and a lot of thanks goes to owners and trainers, my agent and my family.

“This season has been slightly different to last year, but it has been very busy and when you are busy, especially the way it is in this country, it rolls on so quickly.

“Being champion jockey drives me, no question about it. I’m at a point in my career where I think why not keep doing it? I enjoy going racing, the winners, the support, and I enjoy being champion jockey.” 

Billy Loughnane was crowned champion apprentice after a stellar first season in the saddle, while Sheikha Hissa collected the leading owner trophy won by Shadwell.

She said: “It’s great, especially as we have been represented mainly this year in the top-class races with our homebreds, so it means even more for the whole team. Not just us, in terms of everyone who has worked hard with those homebreds to get them to where they are.

"Hukum has been an extreme highlight and Mostahdaf's Prince of Wales's and Juddmonte wins were great, so it's been an exciting year. Winning the Nassau with Al Husn was another highlight as we had never won it before.”

Read more . . .

'That was nuts, absolutely nuts' - fantastic Frankie Dettori raises the roof with epic defeat of Kyprios on Trawlerman 

'I loved the way he didn't throw everything at him' - how Frankie Dettori produced a tactical masterclass on Trawlerman 

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