The Irish Champion Stakes Preview
The highlight of this weekend’s racing is undoubtedly the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown (3:20) on Saturday. Run over 10-furlongs, this has become the pinnacle of the Irish Flat racing season in recent years, especially as it is run a month earlier than the British equivalent and so is often run on much better ground and as a result, often attracts a stronger field.
The Irish Champion Stakes – History
The race was first run in 1976 when it was run as the Joe McGrath Memorial stakes, with the Champion French Malacate the first to land the prize under Lester Piggott for Francois Boutin. In 1984 the race was moved from Leopardstown and renamed the Phoenix Park Champion Stakes where it remained until that course was closed in 1991, at which point it returned to Leopardstown. Whilst this race has its own rich history, it has also been used as a springboard for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in October with 5 horses completing the double; Carroll House (1989), Suave Dancer (1991), Dylan Thomas (2007), Sea the Stars (2009) and Golden Horn (2015) as well as Found (2016) who finished 2nd in this race before her victory in France.
In 2009 the race was added to the Breeders Cup Challenge series, meaning that the winner receives an automatic entry into the Breeders Cup Turf in November with Daylami (1999), Fantastic Light (2001) and High Chapparal (2003) all completing the double in the same season. There have been just 2 horses to win this race on more than one occasion, Dylan Thomas (2006, 2007) and Magical (2019, 2020) who were both trained by Aiden O’Brien.
The Irish Champion Stakes – Jockeys and Trainers
Like most Irish Group 1 races, Aiden O’Brien is the most successful trainer in the history of the race with 11 wins that began with Giant’s Causeway in 2000. The master of Ballydoyle has also won each of the last 4 running’s of the Champion Stakes, with Magical (2019, 2020), St Mark’s Basilica (2021) and Luxembourg (2022). Mick Kinane holds the record for having ridden the most winners of the race with 7 victories between 1989 (Carroll Street) and 2009 (Sea the Stars), although Frankie Dettori will have a last chance to equal that record on Saturday as he currently has 6.
The Irish Champion Stakes – Famous Winners
This race has such a strong history that it would be impossible to do justice to each of the 47 winners, but there were some highlights we thought worthy of inclusion. Amongst the classic generations, horses like Sadler’s Wells (1984), Giant’s Causeway (2000), Dylan Thomas (2006, 2007), New Approach (2009), Sea the Stars (2009), Golden Horn (2015) and Almanzor (2016) stand out as having won this race in the midst of remarkable 3-year-old seasons. Amongst the older horses to have won this race, Commanche Run (1985), Indian Skimmer (1988), Daylami (1999) and High Chapparal (2003) are the standouts. The race has generally been dominated by the Colts, but the Fillies have managed a few notable successes, particularly Magical who won back-to-back renewals in 2019 and 2020. Park Express (1986), Snow fairy (2012) and The Fugue (2013) are other winning Fillies worthy of mention.
The Irish Champion Stakes – Recent Trends
The 3-year-olds receive a 6lb weight-for-age allowance and so as you might expect, they have a good record in this race with 6 wins in the last 10-years and 24 wins since the races’ inception in 1976. Whilst the older horses do have their fair share of winners too, it should probably be noted that only Swain (1998) has won this as a 6-year-old or older, though the fact that so many of the winners have gone on to careers at Stud may have had an impact on that statistic. There does not appear to be any significant draw bias in this race, the average draw of the winner in the last 10-years has been 5.7, with 4 winners drawn in stall 8 or higher (The Fugue 2013, Almanzor 2016, Decorated Knight 2017 and Roaring Lion 2018). There have also been 4 winning SP favourites since 2013, with only Decorated Knight returning at a double-figure SP when he produced a 25/1 shock in 2017 under Andrea Atzeni.
Don’t forget to check out our Blog and Social Media channels this Saturday for our teams’ thoughts on the 2023 running of the Irish Champion Stakes.
