Champions' Day at Ascot will provide the climax to the new series

A new championship leading to Britain's richest day of horse racing will be launched in 2011 as radical changes are introduced to the fixture list.

The £13m series is to climax with Champions' Day on 15 October, which is being moved from Newmarket to Ascot.

Record prize money of £3m will be on offer that day with the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes switched from September.

Several other big meetings are being transferred to Saturdays as part of a move to broaden the sport's appeal.

York's Ebor Festival and the July Cup meeting at Newmarket will both culminate on a Saturday, rather than a Friday.

Sandown's National Hunt season finale will take place over the Easter weekend, while the Becher Chase at Aintree switches from Sunday to Saturday and Newbury stages its Challow Hurdle fixture two days later than usual on New Year's Eve.

The changes were announced with the long-delayed publication of the 2011 fixture list, which has 1,480 meetings, a reduction of 23 on this year.

French racing authorities, which stage Europe's richest race - the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - on the first Sunday in October, had threatened to oppose the changes.

But they have waived their objections despite two revamped Newmarket meetings taking place within two weeks of the Arc meeting and potentially competing with its fixture.

Ascot and Newmarket agreed to carry out race swaps as part of the new British Champions' Series.

It will see a programme of seven top races in five categories - sprint, mile, middle distance, fillies and mares and long distance.

The climax, Champions' Day at Ascot, will be offered to terrestrial broadcasters.

Traditionalists have voiced opposition to the switches, which the Racing for Change Project felt were crucial if the sport is to attract a wider audience in a highly competitive market place.

The Champion Stakes was first run at Newmarket in 1877, but Ascot was picked for its greater crowd capacity and proximity to London.

And leading Newmarket trainer John Gosden believes the revamp does not go far enough.

He would have preferred to see Champions' Day held a month earlier to ensure better ground and avoid a clash with big meetings elsewhere in the world.

British Champions' Series chief executive Karl Oliver said: "We need to give our sport a major new platform to compete for the public's attention."

The new series will encompass British racing's key festivals, including the Guineas at Newmarket, the Epsom Derby ,Royal Ascot, the Newmarket July Festival, Glorious Goodwood, the Ebor Festival at York and Doncaster's St Leger.

606: DEBATE Just wondering what people on here think about the Champion Stakes being moved to Ascot on the same card as the QEII Stakes. To me it seems a completely daft idea Sportsboy

Top jockey Frankie Dettori welcomed the move to create a day which British racing hopes will rival the Arc weekend in France and the Breeders' Cup meeting in the United States.

"This is one of the toughest periods that British horse racing will ever have to face," he said.

"Our racing is the best in the world and Ascot is a world-class venue at any level, so it is fantastic that the industry is doing everything to help itself at this time.

"I congratulate everyone involved and look forward to racing at a world class event at my favourite track. This will equal the Melbourne Cup, the Breeders' Cup and the World Cup in Dubai who have all led the way over the years with high-class events."

The series will launch on Saturday 30 April 2011 with the 2,000 Guineas on Newmarket's Rowley Course and climax at the British Champions' Day at Ascot on Saturday 15 October 2011.

The terrestrial broadcast rights to all the races in the series are currently contracted to the BBC and Channel 4. Discussions are under way with broadcasters for the rights to televise the series finale.

Oliver added: "Britain's richest ever day of racing is the opportunity to attract the very best British and overseas horses to compete at our top international racecourse. It will be the autumn climax British racing needs.

"By also introducing a series framework, we can highlight and use the best races throughout the Flat season to engage a much wider audience to our sport."

Despite the changes, the British Flat racing season will continue to start in mid-March and run until mid-November.

The cut in fixtures was much less than predicted, with the British Horseracing Authority at one stage threatening to remove 250 meetings in a row over funding.

CHAMPIONS DAY Ascot, 15 October, 2011

Champion Stakes (16 Oct, Newmarket, 2010)

Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (25 Sep, Ascot, 2010)

Diadem Stakes (26 Sep, Ascot, 2010)

Pride Stakes (16 Oct, Newmarket, 2010)

Jockey Club Cup (16 Oct, Newmarket, 2010)

FUTURE CHAMPIONS DAY Newmarket, 8 October, 2011

Dewhurst Stakes (16 Oct, Newmarket, 2010)

Middle Park Stakes (1 Oct, Newmarket, 2010)

Darley Stakes (15 Oct, Newmarket, 2010)

Rockel Stakes (16 Oct, Newmarket, 2010)

Challenge Stakes (16 Oct, Newmarket, 2010)

Cesarewitch (16 Oct, Newmarket, 2010)

THE BRITISH CHAMPIONS SERIES

Sprint: Temple Stakes, King's Stand Stakes, Golden Jubilee Stakes, July Cup, Nunthorpe Stakes, Sprint Cup, Diadem Stakes

Mile: 2000 Guineas, Lockinge Stakes, St James's Palace Stakes, Queen Anne Stakes, Sussex Stakes, Joel Stakes, Queen Elizabeth II Stakes

Middle Distance: Coronation Cup, Derby, Prince of Wales's Stakes, Eclipse, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, International Stakes, Champion Stakes

Fillies and Mares: 1000 Guineas, Oaks, Coronation Stakes, Falmouth Stakes, Nassau Stakes, Yorkshire Oaks, Pride Stakes

Long Distance: Yorkshire Cup, Gold Cup, Goodwood Cup, Lonsdale Cup, Doncaster Cup, St Leger, Jockey Club Cup

OTHER FLAT RACING CHANGES

Newmarket 23 September 2011

Fillies' Mile (25 Sep, Ascot, 2010)

Joel Stakes (1 Oct, Newmarket, 2010)

Newmarket 24 September 2011

Cambridgeshire (2 Oct, Newmarket, 2010)

Sun Chariot Stakes (2 Oct, Newmarket, 2010)

Cheveley Park Stakes (1 Oct, Newmarket, 2010)

Royal lodge Stakes (25 Sep, Ascot, 2010)

NATIONAL HUNT CHANGES

Sandown - Finale meeting, Saturday 24 April and Sunday 25 April (Friday 23 and Saturday 24 April, 2010). Now on Easter weekend.

Aintree - Becher meeting, Saturday 4 December, 2011 (Sunday 21 November, 2010). To provide "much stronger support" to Sandown meeting on same day, which includes Tingle Creek Chase.

Newbury - Challow Hurdle Day, Saturday 31 December, 2011 (Wednesday 29 December, 2010). Means race meeting will be televised and "provide a suitably strong fixture on the final Saturday of 2011".

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