The fourth annual Irish Champions
Weekend, sponsored by LONGINES, is the pinnacle of the year for Flat racing enthusiasts
in Ireland and is the first of three European end-of-season championship events,
followed in the coming weeks by the Arc weekend at Chantilly and British Champions
Day at Ascot. The quality of the 10 Group races at Leopardstown and the Curragh
speak for themselves and there is plenty to look forward to in the supporting handicaps
as well.
As ever, the QIPCO Irish Champion
Stakes is the centre-piece of the weekend. Last year, it ranked joint second in
the LONGINES Order of Merit for the world’s Group/Grade 1 races, only
fractionally behind the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Indeed, the average rating for
the winner of the race over the past 20 years is a staggering 126 – as such, it
is very much in the league of Super-Group 1s. This year, the stage would appear
set for Churchill to really prove himself as a top-class performer at three. Although
disappointing at Royal Ascot, last year’s Champion European two-year-old performed
much better behind the year older Ulysses at York, trying ten furlongs for the
first time. Rated 123 at present, he could be challenged most by fellow three-year-olds
Eminent (by Frankel) (116) and Godolphin’s Benbatl (114), as well as Decorated
Knight (119), who is bidding for his second Group 1 in Ireland this year having
won the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh in May.Â
The Distaff highlight of the
weekend is the Group 1 Coolmore Fastnet Rock Matron Stakes. Three-year-old Winter
is rated 119 and has proved herself the dominant filly of her generation and in
the expectation that she will take her chance in this contest, the first of the
weekend’s Group 1s, I would see her biggest challenge coming from last year’s second
and third Persuasive (112) and Qemah (114), who could both be said to be on
retrieval missions after luckless seasons so far.
Saturday’s card also features the
Group 2 Clipper Logistics Boomerang Stakes, won last year by Awtaad. There are
two interesting French entries in this race in the shape of Taareef, the
120-rated Group 2 winner, and the 115-rated Zelzal, also trained by Jean-Claude
Rouget, who was responsible for last year’s Champion Stakes winner Almanzor.
However, while they will be difficult to beat, I am very much looking forward
to seeing how the supplemented Sir John Lavery (111) fares in this race.
Prepared for a tilt at the Epsom Derby earlier in the year, he appeared not to
stay in his prep races but dropped in trip back to a mile on his return from a
break in the Listed Platinum Stakes at Cork recently, he looked very much like
a horse with a big future over this distance and could be one to build on that
effort here.
Sunday’s highlight is the Comer
Group International Irish St Leger and this should be one of the highlights of
the weekend. Order Of St George (120) put up the best staying performance in
Ireland in the past 20 years when winning this race by 11 lengths two years ago
and although beaten in the race last year, will take all the beating if
reproducing that run. To my eyes, he is best when allowed to stride on from a
long way out and his rematch with Big Orange, should he travel, is one to whet
the appetite. However, we shouldn’t forget that there are some potentially
improving three-year-olds in the line-up also in the form of Rekindling and
Venice Beach, who could both be embryonic stars in the staying division. Â Order of St George was rated 115 at a similar
stage of his career, just 1lb ahead of Rekindling (114) and 2lbs ahead of
Venice Beach (113).Â
At the other end of the distance
spectrum, it will be good to see Caravaggio, described by his trainer Aidan
O'Brien as the fastest horse that he has trained since Mozart, back on home
soil for a tilt at the Derrinstown Stud Flying Five Stakes. Equipped with new
racing shoes, he is 7lbs clear of his rivals on ratings and we can probably
expect him to put a slightly disappointing effort in France behind him. This
year’s three-year-olds sprinters look very exciting and Caravaggio ranks right
up there with the best of them in Harry Angel and Lady Aurelia at this stage.Â
The weekend also allows us to see
the stars of the future with two Group 1 races for two year olds. The Moyglare
Stud Stakes is the first Group 1 for two-year-olds over seven furlongs this
season in Europe and it is the first of three Group 1 races on day two. It
looks a high quality contest and certainly in terms of pedigrees, it has the
makings of a brilliant race. In addition to Clemmie (sister to Churchill), three
of the first four in last month’s Group 2 Debutante Stakes - Magical (sister to
Rhododendron), Happily (sister to Gleneagles) and September (out of Peeping
Fawn) re-oppose. Interestingly, last year’s Debutante result was reversed in
the Moyglare and who’s to say that mightn’t happen again. It all depends really
on which of the trio shows the most improvement. Further spice is added to the
race in the form of the Eddie Lynam-trained Muirin, who put up a very taking
performance to win her maiden at the course last month and while this is a big
step up in class, she does look a filly with a future.Â
The juvenile colts get their
chance to shine in the Group 1 Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes and this
race has been a launch pad for so many stars over the years, among them
Sinndar, George Washington, Teofilo and Dawn Approach. Last year’s winner Churchill
was rated 111 coming into the race last year and on 113, Beckford is the
highest rated of the entries this time around. He was second in the Group 1
Phoenix Stakes, shaping as if an extra furlong may well suit and sets a decent
standard. Â Gustav Klimt (109) looks the
main Ballydoyle hope as he bids to emulate Churchill and is open to improvement
after overcoming a difficult passage in winning the Group 2 Superlative Stakes
at Newmarket in July. Worth noting also is Verbal Dexterity, who was runner-up
to Beckford in the Railway Stakes over what may have been an inadequate 6
furlongs, and he could well improve upon his rating of 110, stepped up to this seven
furlongs. Brother Bear from Jessica Harrington’s yard is also stepping up to
seven furlongs for the first time here and it is worth remembering that he beat
subsequent Group 1 winner Sioux Nation on two occasions earlier in the year. Hopefully
he can recapture that sort of form and if he does, he may well also play a
leading part.Â
Finally, the weekend’s four valuable
handicaps are again over-subscribed and there is some real quality in all four
races. Although British-trained runners have managed to win just one handicap
so far in Ireland this year, I would expect them to have a strong hand in the
‘Bold Lad’ Sprint handicap, where they are responsible for seven of the top 12
horses in the weights. They are also well represented in the seven-furlong ‘Sovereign
Path’ handicap with seven of the top 14 horses in the weights. However, in the
longer distance ten-furlong ‘Northfields’ and 12-furlong ‘Petingo’ handicaps, the
home team looks strong. Interestingly, the only horse entered in the four races
that remains unbeaten in handicaps to date is the Joe Murphy-trained
Silverkode, who runs off a rating of 99 in the ‘Sovereign Path’ handicap, and
it will be fascinating to see if he can maintain his upwardly mobile profile
and progress into higher company still. Â
With racing on the beach on
Tuesday and north of the border on Friday in advance of the weekend’s top-class
action, it makes for a great week’s racing!
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