Binning the British Champions Series has shifted the sport’s focus to one afternoon at Ascot in mid-October

The imminence of Cheltenham and then the Grand National tends to scrub any consideration of Flat racing from most punters’ minds once February rolls around, but it is already less than 10 weeks until the 2,000 Guineas, the first Classic of the new season on turf, and there was some significant news around Britain’s richest day at the races last week with the announcement of a major upgrade to Champions Day at Ascot in October.

There was £4.3m up for grabs on Champions Day last year, which is not too far shy of the £4.93m on offer over the entire four days at Cheltenham next month, and the card will now boast no fewer than five Group One events after the Long Distance Cup’s promotion from Group Two status. The programme will also be extended to seven races with the addition of a new £250,000 contest for two-year-olds, which the track will hope to fast-track to Pattern status as swiftly as possible.