'Oh my God!' Jamie Spencer is stunned twice on a day when Ascot hosted the world's best race and the BHA board shared in a 100-1 shock

What was rightly billed as the finest British Champions Day ever staged had become more unfathomable than incredible until the wacky races gave way to a spectacular contest in which the cream truly rose to the top and Calandagan proved himself indisputably the very best of the best.

There is nothing normal about a fixture that yields winners at 200-1 and 100-1 but nor was there anything normal about the Qipco Champion Stakes. It brought together three of the season's brightest stars. It ended with one of them shining magnificently.

Even now, with the results inked indelibly in the form book, it is hard to believe Powerful Glory and Cicero's Gift managed to secure Group 1 honours in races filled with an abundance of proven top-notch talent. While their victories must have encouraged some to chuck a few quid at Prague or a pacemaker, the great hope was that the afternoon's centrepiece would deliver a spectacle in which the big three all performed at or close to the peak of the powers.