John Gosden sealed the British and Irish Flat trainers’ championship in style at Ascot on Saturday while Silvestre de Sousa picked up his champion jockey trophy.

Breaking the dominance of Aidan O’Brien is a hard thing to achieve, but Gosden proved up to the task as a scintillating treble on Qipco British Champions Day helped secure his third title.

With the coveted crown having headed to Ballydoyle for the past two seasons, the Newmarket handler foiled the hat-trick after taking Britain’s most valuable race day by storm at Ascot to wrap up the title with more than two months remaining.

Gosden said: “I gave the cup to Aidan and he had to give it to me this year. It means a lot. I said to Aidan on January 1 ‘we start with a blank sheet again, a bit like a football manager’.”

Though wins for Roaring Lion in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Stradivarius in the Long-Distance Cup all but secured a first title for Gosden since 2015, the best was arguably saved until last, with Cracksman recording a brilliant second success in the Champion Stakes.

Arriving on the back of an odds-on defeat in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at the Royal meeting, the son of Frankel returned to his imperious best to take the Group One prize by six lengths, completing a double for Frankie Dettori, who was also victorious aboard Stradivarius.

Reflecting on the day, Gosden said: “Frankie, how he got through the Houdini hole on Stradivarius, I don’t know.

“I thought Roaring Lion was beyond brave, as he was never enjoying the ground, but he had the guts to win it, and I thought Oisin (Murphy) was cool and didn’t panic.

“Cracksman had been showing it home and the vibes were pretty strong from the work reports in Newmarket. I knew that just focus his mind and he will fly, and he literally flew. It’s not a bad day to have a treble.”

While most of those housed at Clarehaven Stables have played their part in some way in helping Gosden take title number three, there are several performances that particularly satisfied the trainer.

Gosden added: “I think getting Enable back was good, and getting Cracksman back is top class. That was very fulfilling, at the top level.

“To see Stradivarius going round after round is very fulfilling. It’s all down to the horse, as they have got to be strong in the mind and body and we are lucky to have them.”

It may be Gosden’s name that appears in the headlines, but winning the championship again has been far from an individual effort in his eyes – and one that has happened through the hard work of those behind the scenes.

He said: “You are lucky that you have great owners that send you some lovely horses. I’ve got a wonderful staff who have worked with me for many years.

“It’s a good team, as it’s all on first-name terms and everyone talks to each other and everyone’s ideas are discussed. It has got to be down to those three ingredients.

“There is no individual satisfaction on this horse or that. It is about trying to do the best and if it is to win a little race with a filly and make her a winner, that is very fulfilling.

“I’m just lucky to have some great staff and fabulous owners and the horses to go with it. Without them, I would have nothing.”

De Sousa officially joined weighing-room colleagues Frankie Dettori and Ryan Moore as a three-time winner of the Stobart-sponsored British Flat jockeys championship.
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The 37-year-old Brazilian was crowned champion on Britain’s richest raceday, British Champions Day at Ascot, even though he was serving a riding suspension and wasn’t competing.

De Sousa said he was proud to match Dettori and Moore as the only current active riders to have won the championship three times – especially after he made a sluggish start to the season.

“It means the world to me to win for the third time,” De Sousa said.

“There are a lot of incredible jockeys in this country and some very good young jockeys coming through. All I want to do is ride more winners every year and give everything, not just for me, but for my family as well.

“I just want to make them proud of what I’m doing and achieving.

“The other two championship wins were good, but this one feels even better. I have put a lot of effort in this year to win the title again, and it feels that extra bit special after having such a slow start to the season.”

He added: “To have matched Frankie and Ryan is an honour. They are two of the best jockeys in the world and both have won a huge amount of big races.

“I’m proud of what I’ve achieved in my career and it’s nice to be in that mix with Ryan and Frankie. I’m just a boy from a small town in northern Brazil, so to be in the position I am today, I am extremely proud of myself.”

After being runner-up in both 2010 and 2011, De Sousa was finally successful in 2015 and regained his title in 2017.

Teenage sensation Jason Watson is the latest product of the Andrew Balding academy to become champion apprentice, following the likes of Oisin Murphy and William Buick.

Watson, 19, who won the Stewards’ Cup at Glorious Goodwood aboard Gifted Master, said: “I’m delighted to follow in the footsteps of past apprentices that have been produced from here and it is great to now be a part of that line.”

Watson rode his 100th winner of the year at Redcar on Friday, and has enjoyed plenty of success at Brighton, a track he refers to as “home”.

He added: “I really enjoy riding at my home course. I rode my first treble there, my mum and dad religiously go there every meeting, and so it really does feel like going home which is great!”

PA