Irish Champion stakes

The dual Derby winner Auguste Rodin (Ire) will make one final appearance in the Japan Cup on November 24 before retiring to stand at Coolmore Stud in Ireland.  The four-year-old son of Japan's breed-shaping stallion Deep Impact (Jpn) has won at the highest level in each of his seasons in training, landing the Vertem Futurity after his initial black-type success in the G2 KPMG Champions Juvenile Stakes.  At three, despite disappointing in the Qipco 2,000 Guineas on his seasonal debut, he put together a formidable CV of four Group/Grade 1...

If the first half of the Flat season is for graduation ceremonies, this is the bit where Masters and PhDs are handed out. To see Ryan Moore sit so beautifully on City Of Troy - and this year's best horse race round Southwell so fluidly - was to feel a surge of anticipation greater than before his seasonal reappearance for the 2,000 Guineas.  We all love spring and the history-laden game of labelling three-year-olds 'Classic' winners. But sorry, late summer and autumn is when we really get ready to rumble....

Yoshito Yahagi has provided a sprinkling of stardust to the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion S. by pencilling the €1.25m Leopardstown highlight in for the Japanese star Shin Emperor (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}).  With numerous big-race wins in his home country and international Grade 1 success to his name in Hong Kong and at the Breeders' Cup, Yahagi has now set his sights on Leopardstown on Saturday, September 14 with a colt who finished third in the Japanese Derby last weekend.  Of course, the brother to Sottsass (Fr), who fetched €2.1m at...

King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) heads the 13 still standing for Saturday's Royal Bahrain Irish Champion S. at Leopardstown on a weekend where the colt's owners Amo Racing could bid for a Group 1 double with Bucanero Fuerte (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) on course for the Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S on Sunday.  Trained by Roger Varian, King Of Steel heads the betting for the Irish Champions Stakes, the showpiece event of the rebranded Irish Champions Festival, and connections of the colt are predicting a bold display.  "It's a...

Ryan Moore has admitted that G1 French Derby and G1 Coral-Eclipse winner Vadeni (Fr) (Churchill {Ire}) sets the standard in the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion S. at Leopardstown on Saturday but warned that Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) should not be underestimated in the feature race of Longines Irish Champions Weekend. The Aidan O'Brien-trained Luxembourg got his season off to a promising start when third in the G1 2000 Guineas, but suffered a setback in the build-up to the Derby. He won in workmanlike fashion on his return from a 105-day...

Fabrice Chappet is set to have his first runner in Ireland and will send the G1 Grand Prix de Paris winner Onesto (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) to the G1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion S. on Sept. 10. The first running of the race in 1976 was won by the Francois Boutin-trained Malacate, and the Irish Champion S. last went to a French runner when Almanzor (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) won in 2016 en route to becoming European champion 3-year-old. Onesto, also three, landed the G2 Prix Greffulhe in May before running...

The Irish Champion S., one of the premier races in the European programme, will be sponsored by the Bahrain Turf Club after Horse Racing Ireland and Leopardstown brokered a deal for the Group 1.   The race was won by St Mark's Basilica (Fr) last season and by Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in 2020.  The Bahrain Turf Club have committed to sponsoring the €1,000,000 showpiece for the next six years to the delight of Leopardstown boss Tim Husbands. He said, "We are honoured to welcome such a prestigious and international brand,...

Golden Horn (GB), the brilliant G1 Derby winner and European Horse of the Year in 2015, will take up stallion duties at Overbury Stud after being sold to new investors Dash Grange Stud from Darley and Anthony Oppenheimer. The move will see Golden Horn, who has already sired 13 individual winners over jumps in Britain and Ireland, marketed as a dual-purpose stallion. Golden Horn is best remembered for storming to Derby glory under Frankie Dettori in 2015. He won handsomely from subsequent Irish Derby hero Jack Hobbs (GB), who he...

Longines Irish Champion S. Day at Leopardstown on Sept. 11 will be a World Pool event, marking the first time Irish racing will participate in the World Pool. Brian Kavanagh, chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland, which owns Tote Ireland, said, "Irish Champion S. Day at Leopardstown--day one of the Longines Irish Champions Weekend--is a showcase day in Irish racing, and Horse Racing Ireland welcomes its inclusion in World Pool. The addition of Irish Champion S. Day is a first for Irish racing and is both great news for Irish...

York's G1 Juddmonte International S. didn't just provide the world's best 130-rated performance of 2020 for Ghaiyyath (Ire) but, with its stellar back-up cast of seven-time Group 1 winner Magical (Ire), the G1 St James's Palace S. winner Lord North (Ire) and 2000 Guineas hero Kameko, the race was also judged to be the Longines World's Best Horse Race last year on ratings. Along with announcing the World's Best Racehorse Rankings on Tuesday, Longines and the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) also published the list of top 100 Group...

There are few days in the European racing calendar as replete with top-class action as Saturday, with Doncaster's St Leger festival reaching its climax as the Irish Champions Weekend begins at Leopardstown. With the exception of Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), Godolphin's phenomenon of 2020 Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) has emerged to dominate the middle-distance division and he bids to extend that to Ireland as he takes in the G1 Irish Champion S. With Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in opposition, on paper his task involves a simple repeat of his G1...

Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) will line up for Saturday's G1 Irish Champion S. at Leopardstown after coming through a Thursday morning gallop in good order, according to trainer Charlie Appleby. This season's G1 Coronation Cup, G1 Coral-Eclipse S. and G1 Juddmonte International winner is the favourite for the 10-furlong contest and will face five rivals including Ballydoyle's Japan (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) and Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) as well as this season's G1 Prix Ganay victor Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). "It was a routine piece of work to check his well-being,...