The Gosdens vs Aidan O'Brien - how British Champions Day could decide who will be top Flat trainer

Saturday could indeed be a Champions Day for either John and Thady Gosden or Aidan O'Brien with the £4 million six-race card set to determine who will triumph in the 2023 trainers' title race.

The British Flat trainers' championship officially ends on December 31 but enough of an advantage could be gained, with the Futurity Trophy at Doncaster the only six-figure race left after this weekend. The Gosdens lead with £6.55 million in prize-money earnings and an advantage of £348,501 over O'Brien. It is almost impossible for any other trainer to win and William Hill go 8-13 for the Gosdens to become the first champion dual licence holders in history, with O'Brien 5-4.

Paddington is responsible for just under £1.5m of O'Brien's British prize-money, more than any other horse at Ballydoyle this season, and is favourite for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (3.05), worth £656,000 to the winner, while star stayer Kyprios looks to justify his short odds in the opening Long Distance Cup (1.15) as Ireland's champion trainer seeks a seventh British title, and a first in six years.

Team Gosden is headlined by Prince of Wales's Stakes and Juddmonte International hero Mostahdaf, who is out to pocket the most valuable prize on offer in the Champion Stakes (3.45), worth £737,230 to the winner. 

Nashwa will take on Paddington in the QEII, while both yards are represented in the Fillies and Mares, worth £301,000 to the winner, including the top two in the market in Free Wind for Gosden and Jackie Oh for O'Brien.

There will be no final-day drama this year for William Buick, who has secured his second Flat jockeys' title with 135 winners, an advantage of 29 over Oisin Murphy.

Seventeen-year-old sensation Billy Loughnane has become the champion apprentice just 12 months on from his first ride. He has partnered 59 winners to finish ahead of last year's champion Benoit de la Sayette.

Shadwell will be named leading owner in Britain with second-place Godolphin mathematically unable to make up the £500,000 deficit with Long Distance Cup runner Trawlerman their only representative on the day.

Gosdens vs O'Brien: race by race guide

1.15 Ascot: Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup (Group 2) 
1st £283,550, 2nd £107,500, 3rd £53,800

Gosdens: Sweet William 10-1, Trawlerman 12-1
O'Brien: Kyprios 11-8, Broome 40-1

1.50: Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes (Group 1)
No runners

2.25: Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes (Group 1)
1st £301,271, 2nd £114,218, 3rd £57,162

Gosdens: Free Wind 100-30, Sweet Memories 12-1, Running Lion 20-1
O'Brien: Jackie Oh 4-1

3.05: Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (Group 1)
1st £655,709, 2nd £248,593, 3rd £124,412

Gosdens: Nashwa 9-2, Epictetus 100-1
O'Brien: Paddington 7-4

3.45: Qipco Champion Stakes (Group 1)
1st £737,230, 2nd £279,500, 3rd £139,880

Gosdens: Mostahdaf 7-2
O'Brien: Point Lonsdale 22-1

4.25: Balmoral Handicap
No runners

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