Charlie Appleby’s second champion trainer title is all but sealed after Adayar’s second-placed effort in the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot.

The Frankel colt, last year’s Derby and King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner, was overshadowed in the lead up to the race by William Haggas’ unbeaten Baaeed – as indeed were the rest of the field.

Baaeed could not maintain that record and had to settle for fourth place, with Appleby’s runner a valiant second when beaten half a length by Bay Bridge.

“That was a great run, they went steadier than maybe ideal for us on that ground, but our plan was to try to get first run on Baaeed and he’s gone out on his sword,” said the Moulton Paddocks trainer, who also saw Modern Games finish a fine second in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Creative Force take third in the Champions Sprint.

“Take nothing away from the winner, he’s been crying out for this ground all year as we know and that was a great performance.

“Obviously we’ll have discussions about where we go next, we might look at taking him to America for the Breeders’ Cup Turf, he’s getting better with his gate work, he came out well today.

“That would be the only question mark about going there. He’s got no miles on the clock, but he’s had a race today so I don’t want to fall into the trap today of backing him up quickly like I did last year after a layoff.

“At one point when Will (Buick) kicked, similar to when he kicked in the King George, I thought we might be good enough, but it was a great race to watch.”