Almanzor seeks to put the seal on stellar season for Rouget
There was a time when French trainers viewed the Champion Stakes as consolation for beaten horses in the Arc: Pride gained recompense at Newmarket having been narrowly beaten by Rail Link at Longchamp a decade ago.
But Jean-Claude Rouget has made the Leopardstown-Ascot Champion Stakes double the priority for Almanzor since midsummer and arrives with a horse who tops the rankings for the year in Europe.
Almanzor emerged on the international scene with a burst of acceleration that swept away the opposition in the Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly in June and, while the form of the horses he beat that day has not always held up, the winner has gone from strength to strength.
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Published on inBritish Champions Day
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