A look back at Qipco Champions Day and a look at the week ahead in horseracing

I had a bit of a nightmare at Ascot on Saturday with a couple of seconds and a third place from my five bets. The weather played it's part again and there was what can only be described as a shock or two. I was saddened to read that Tahiyra will now be retired having finished third in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. Speaking to the Racing Post on Monday, Dermot Weld said "Tahiyra has been retired. She has been a wonderful filly to train and she retires to the Aga Khan's broodmare band." He added  "She's right up there with the best I've trained. I've been very fortunate to train some very, very good colts and fillies and I've never been one who likes comparing horses with other horses from different years, but she's right up there with them all."  I can't blame the Aga Khan, you would certainly want to breed as many foals from her as you can, but I would have liked to see her as a four-year-old. 

Also, in the news this afternoon, last year’s Epsom Derby winner Desert Crown has tragically had to be put down after failing to recover from the serious fetlock injury he suffered on the gallops at Newmarket in the summer. Very sad news. 

British Champions Day may be done and dusted, and the Turf season very much now coming to an end, but there is still top-class Flat action to come with entries for the Breeders Cup closing at 8pm on Monday.  Pre-entry fields for all the Breeders' Cup races will be revealed at 5pm on Wednesday with the two-day meeting next month at Santa Anita.

The Jumps game really kicks into gear on Friday as horseracing at Cheltenham returns whilst Doncaster kicks off its two-day Futurity Trophy meeting on the same day as the curtain begins to come down on the Turf season with just a handful of meetings left to run in November.

It looks like we will lose a few meetings over the coming days to the weather, Pontefract (Waterlogged) and Southwell (Flooded) were abandoned on Monday; Southwell have been forced to also call off the meetings planned for 26th and 30th October as well as those on 2nd and 4th November with the track actually underwater at this time!

I have a few bets pencilled in for the week so fingers crossed conditions get no worse.