Ascot Placepot tips: Paul Kealy's perm for the £250,000 guaranteed pool on Champions Day

There are some very hard races at Ascot when it comes to the Placepot on Champions Day, which paid only £128 last year but more than £3,000 in 2022, but the opener (1.20) shouldn't be one.

Kyprios will take a vast chunk of the pool with him, but something surely has to go wrong for him to finish out of the frame, so he's banker material.

There's no such thing as a banker in the next (1.55), but horses coming from stalls one to ten account for two thirds of the top-three finishers this century, so my three against the field are Audience (drawn two), Montassib (six) and James's Delight (seven).

Despite what the betting might say, I think the fillies' race (2.35) is incredibly open. Tiffany is my first pick, as I think she'll relish the test, but Quantanamera's defeat of Arrest at Deauville in August reads pretty well, while Village Voice looked to be on the up when winning easily last time, albeit in a much lower grade.

If Charyn still holds his form on his seventh run of the season, he ought to make the frame in the next (3.15) at the very least, but I'm adding Prague, who comes here after a clear career best and could easily still have more to offer.

I wouldn't have a particular preference over Calandagan and Economics in the Champion Stakes (3.55), but I reckon we only need one anyway, and the former, who has Ascot form, gets the nod.

Almost three-quarters of the placed horses in the closing Balmoral (4.35) have been drawn 13 or lower in the last ten years, so looking at those drawn middle to low is probably the safest course of action.

Daysofourlives and Mr Professor are the two main picks, but I'll add in recent Challenge Cup third Bopedro, who is 6lb lower than when fourth in the race last year.

Ascot Placepot perm

1.20
5 Kyprios

1.55
3 Audience
6 Montassib
15 James's Delight

2.35
2 Quantanamera
7 Tiffany
9 Village Voice

3.15
1 Charyn
6 Prague

3.55
7 Calandagan

4.35
8 Daysofourlives
9 Mr Professor
11 Bopedro

1x3x3x2x1x3=54 lines

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