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 the August Yearling Sale at Arqana in 2022, wouldn't be the first Japanese raider to tackle the Irish Champion S. The Mitsuru Hashida-trained Deirdre (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) ran a respectable fourth behind Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the 2019 edition.
The international appeal of the race is further emphasised by an entry of two horses trained in South Africa and five from France. The South African entries are the dual Grade 1 winners Double Superlative (SAF) (Twice Over {GB}) and See It Again (SAF) (Twice Over {GB}), the latter trained by Michael Roberts, the former British champion jockey, who won the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion S. on the Henry Cecil-trained Indian Skimmer in 1988.
The quintet of French possibles are headed by the US$5m Dubai Turf winner Facteur Cheval (Ire) (Ribchester {Ire}), trained by Jerome Reynier, the Alex Pantall-trained Fast Tracker (GB) (Churchill {Ire}), a leading hope for this Sunday's Prix Du Jockey Club and French 2,000 Guineas winner Metropolitan (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}), trained by Mario Baratti.
The entry from Britain numbers 17 while Aidan O'Brien has handed entries to his big Epsom Derby hopes City Of Troy (Justify) and Los Angeles (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) along with Henry Longfellow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Ylang Ylang (GB) (Frankel {GB}), the leading contender for Friday's Oaks at Epsom.
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