Will Palace prove peerless? Keith Melrose assesses the QEII

It is written into the format of British Champions Day that the five Group races all act as the final for the various series that run through the season. On those terms, the lop-sided field for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes is a minor let down, as the mile division has done more than any other to buoy a season that could quite easily have sunk without trace.

A large chunk of it is bad luck – specifically, Mohaather and Pinatubo have been forced into retirement. Victor Ludorum, Siskin, Kameko, even Alpine Star all might have run but have skipped the engagement, seemingly presenting the QEII at Palace Pier's feet.

There is a sense that the Jacques Le Marois made this outcome inevitable. The one enduring criticism of Champions Day is the likelihood of soft ground and, in conditions at Deauville basically indistinguishable from the nearby Channel, Palace Pier showed that no ground is too soft for him. Circus Maximus, Persian King and Romanised were all left floundering, with only Alpine Star making a race of it.