Thrill in store for racing fans with St Leger and Irish Champion Stakes double bill
Saturday is a massive day for Aidan O’Brien’s Ballydoyle team. At 3:40, in the world’s oldest classic race, the Group 1 Betfred St Leger, it is possible that both the dual Derby winner Lambourn and the Group 1 Goodwood Cup hero Scandinavia will be among those doing battle for him in a race that may see fewer than the usual number of runners once final declarations are made on Thursday, writes Paul Alster.
Fellow Irish raider Carmers, trained by Paddy Twomey to win the Group 2 Queens Vase at Royal Ascot, then defeated for the first time in his career when dropping down in trip to finish a fine one length second in the Great Voltigeur Stakes at York (ahead of Lambourn), could be the biggest threat to another Town Moor triumph for “the lads” - Aidan O’Brien’s team of high profile owners – who have landed four of the last eight renewals of this 1m6f and 132 yard stamina-sapping challenge for three-year-old colts with Jan Breughel, Continuous, Kew Gardens and Capri all adding their names to a lengthy roll of honour that dates all the way back to 1776.
In all honesty, this isn’t a race that stirs the blood, a dearth of home-trained candidates shining a bright light on the relative weakness in the division for British trainers whose main attention these days seems to be in racing thoroughbreds at between sprint distances and a mile-and-a-quarter. Let’s hope we see a good performance from the winner of this year’s St Leger (that might enhance its future appeal as a National Hunt stallion), but the truth is that most eyes will surely be focused on a better card at Leopardstown on the opening day of the Irish Champions weekend bonanza.
SUMMARY: Lambourn clearly was not match fit when beaten at York last time and may well bounce back to defeat stable companion Scandinavia.
At 5:30 on Saturday afternoon we could be in for one hell of a race, with high-class contenders from Ireland, England, France and Japan bidding for the lion’s share of the £1.25 million prize money on offer for the ten furlong Group 1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes.
It could well turn out to be a race that lives long in the memory alongside successes in the last decade of Golden Horn, Almanzor, Roaring Lion, Magical (twice), St Mark’s Basilica, Luxembourg, Auguste Rodin and Economics, the last named breaking a run of five consecutive wins in the race for Aidan O’Brien when giving William Haggas a victory to remember.
Although the final declarations are not known at the time of writing, the intention is for Delacroix to lead the O’Brien charge to regain the Irish Champion Stakes crown, the Eclipse Stakes hero seeking to bounce back from his defeat at the hands of the outstanding Ombudsman in the Juddmonte International Stakes at York last month. That day, Delacroix was beaten fair and square having defeated the same rival the time before in the Eclipse.
Most racing fans were getting very excited about the prospect of ’Round 3’ of their seasonal head-to-head, but that is not going to happen John Gosden has made it clear that he does not intend to let Ombudsman go out to battle again so soon. This means there will be a maximum of two British challengers; Anmaat and Royal Champion.
Last season’s shock Qipco Champions Stakes winner Anmaat was an excellent second to Ombudsman in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot on his most recent start, while the Karl Burke-trained Royal Champion was well beaten in the Ascot race before bouncing back to form with an authoritative victory in the Group 2 Sky Bet York Stakes in late-July. Anmaat, trained by the particularly shrewd Owen Burrows, is the pick of the British pair and any easing of the ground will enhance his already solid each-way prospects.
In this race twelve months ago the Japanese star Shin Emperor battled on strongly to the line to be beaten just one length when a fine third to Economics and has surely been trained with another crack at this prestigious race in mind. He goes well fresh, so his 161-day absence won’t be an issue. For trainer Yoshito Yashagi’s star a bigger concern would be any rain as he goes particularly well on quick ground and probably wouldn’t want conditions to be any worse than good.
Johnny Murtagh’s Zahrann is an exciting three-year-old by Night Of Thunder who is getting better and better with every run, but this looks a very tough assignment and I believe he will do well to make the frame. He could be a proper star next season so a big run here would augur very well for 2026.
The only other serious contender for whom a decent case can be made is John Murphy’s extremely likeable White Birch, the horse who lowered the colours of Auguste Rodin in the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup of 2024 and has run with loads of credit in just two starts this term. Connections have been very patient waiting for the fast ground of the dry summer to give way to easier conditions and will be doing a rain dance for their eye-catching grey who should be in the thick of the action regardless of the weather, but may find one or two too good this time.
SUMMARY: Anmaat is the most likely danger to Delacroix and could be value to turn over the expected warm favourite.
Paul Alster has broadcast and reported on the British racing industry for almost four decades as a commentator, journalist, presenter, betting correspondent, SP Returner, tipster and form analyst, among other things.