Magical becomes front runner for Horse of the Year award

Magical, courtesy of her third in the Qipco British Champion Stakes at Ascot on Saturday, has edged ahead of Ghaiyyath in contest to become the Cartier Horse of the Year for 2020, with a few weeks left to run.

While it is too close to call at the top of the table, it was the winner of that race, Addeybb, who put himself into contention for that award by winning his third Group One of the year, the champion adding to the two he won in Australia in the spring and his second in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.

William Haggas’s six-year-old gelding is now level in third with the leading three-year-old filly, Love.

All in all, however, it has been an odd year and the horses which most enhanced their reputations on Saturday were, on the whole, those who kept away from the mud.

Addeybb apart, most of Saturday’s winners, like Trueshan, Glen Shiel, The Revenant and Wonderful Tonight, were not horses who were figured high in the tables going into the meeting so must rely on the panel of experts and Telegraph Sport readers if they are to be successful.

While Stradivarius and Battaash appear home and hosed in the Stayer and Sprint categories and Love looks likely to be the top three-year-old filly, unusually nothing else appears settled. Palace Pier and Pinatubo share the lead among the three-year-old colts and the two-year-olds still look up in the air.

There are still a few Group Ones for juveniles around the continent as well as the Vertem Futurity Trophy at Doncaster on Saturday and it is possible, if it is close, that results from the this year’s juvenile races at the Breeders Cup in November will be vital.