The Grey Gatsby (near side) beats Australia© Photo Healy Racing
British raider The Grey Gatsby and Ryan Moore were the anti heroes at Leopardstown today, bursting the Irish-Australia bubble in the feature event, the Group 1 QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes, on a day of high drama on the opening day of the inaugural and hugely successful Champions Weekend.
Both horses had claimed the three 'local' Derbys in recent months with English and Irish Derby winner Australia starting the strong 3/10 favourite to uphold York winning form (in the Juddmonte Stakes) over French Derby winner The Grey Gatsby. Alkasser and Kingfisher set a strong early pace with Australia, under Joseph O'Brien, held up behind the leaders whereas Moore elected to sit further off the pace in rear on The Grey Gatsby.
Rounding the turn for home, O'Brien came wide with his challenge on Australia whereas The Grey Gatsby still had plenty of work to do in rear. However with a furlong to race Australia's run seemed to flatten out and The Grey Gatsby finished with a dramatic later flourish to edge ahead close home for a neck win.
The win was particularly sweet for winning trainer Kevin Ryan, originally from Golden, Co Tipperary, who later stated “he's a great racehorse and I'm very proud of him and I've felt all along that he's never gotten the credit he deserves. If he doesn't now, it will be unbelievable as the horse has done his own talking.
“Ryan went out with a plan; he thought they would go very hard so he was going to hang on to him. I said to him 'that is plan A' but if he had to revert to plan B or C, so be it, but you don't tell Ryan Moore how to ride a horse!
“Hughesie (jockey Richard Hughes) said at York that Australia just got first run on him and on the day I don't think he would have beaten him but Hughesie thought he would have been a lot closer and given him a harder race.
“Turning in today I was thinking 'oh god he has a lot of ground to make up' but in fairness to Ryan he was saving ground while Australia had to go wide. He made up the ground well and when he passed one and picked up, I thought he would go very close.
“He's a horse that has taken us on a great journey, both me and the owner and he'll stay in training next year. He won't go to the Arc but could go to Ascot on Quipco day.”
Australia's defeat also provided a quirk of fate in that both his Champion racehorse parents, sire Galileo (famously in 2001) and dam Ouija Board (2006) were both beaten in previous renewals of the race.
The Grey Gatsby's sire Mastercraftsman was also completing a good day's work, having also sired Kingston Hill, winner of today's English St Leger.
Quotes from Gary Carson
