Ante-Post Tips: Is Delacroix The Next Big Name in Irish Champion Stakes Folklore? There is no real standout middle-distance performer this season, the waters for next month’s Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe now muddier than ever following last weekend’s trials both in Britain and France. However, Saturday’s Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown has been a key trial for Longchamp in previous years - Carroll House (1989), Suave Dancer (1991), Dylan Thomas (2007), Sea The Stars (2009) and Golden Horn (2015) all winning here prior to landing the Arc in the same season, so there’s a chance the picture will become a bit clearer. Leopardstown is packed full of quality, a total of six Group 1s taking place across the two-day meeting, four of which are on a truly Super Sunday. Our expert has picked one ante-post bet for each day. Take our State of Racing Survey for a chance to win a €50 Amazon gift card Irish Champion Stakes - Delacroix Aidan O’Brien has a real stranglehold on this 1m2f Group 1 event, the Ballydoyle maestro denied his sixth straight win and his 13th overall by William Haggas’s rarely seen Economics 12 months ago. His DELACROIX heads the market for Saturday’s renewal at 5-4 and that looks fair with John & Thady Gosden’s Ombudsman now instead being aimed at the Champions Stakes at Ascot next month. It was 1-1 between that pair this season and the momentum was very definitely with Ombudsman, who finished 3.5 lengths ahead of Delacroix in the Juddmonte International at York last time, so his omission should make life considerably easier. He’s not a straightforward ride, as he showed at Sandown, and Ryan Moore will be a big miss on Saturday. However, he’s ultimately the best horse in the race (he’s 4lb clear on ratings) and will be in receipt of a 7lb weight-for-age allowance from his elders. Johnny Murtagh’s Zahrann looks best of the rest, the son of Night Of Thunder very much on the upgrade, having suffered a near miss in the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot before winning the Group 3 Royal Whip Stakes at The Curragh. White Birch is another worthy of consideration, though John Joseph Murphy’s grey seems to save his best for The Curragh. Irish St Leger - Amiloc Aidan O’Brien is without dual winner Kyprios this time around following his well deserved retirement, but he’s not going to be short of ammunition as he bids for an eighth win in this staying contest, a race he first won back in 2007 with the mighty Yeats. However, it’s hard to be sure which of his 13-strong battalion will run and therefore I’d rather look elsewhere, in particular the Ralph Beckett-trained AMILOC, who remains unbeaten after five starts and could well improve again for this staying trip. The selection, who won both starts as a two-year-old over 7f and a mile, has shown massive improvement since being stepped up middle distances this term, his best performance coming in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot last time, form that has been boosted by the the subsequent victories of runner-up Zahrann and Wimbledon Hawkeye. He has a touch of a class about him and was as short as 10-1 for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes back at Ascot in July, but was ruled out of that race having taken time to recover from his Royal Ascot exertions. He’s been off for almost three months now, which should have freshened him up accordingly, and while Sunday’s additional two furlongs are an unknown, he shaped like a strong stayer in the making when winning the Listed Cocked Hat Stakes at Goodwood and his brother, Brimham Rocks, was successful over 1m6f for this yard.
