Irish Champions Weekend: What's coming up? There are any number of excellent races and meetings in Ireland but few seem as significant as Irish Champions Weekend. Taking place in September every year, the two-day meeting provides the perfect shop window for the best of the best in Ireland’s Flat racing scene. Irish Champions Weekend takes place over two days and the first card is hosted by Leopardstown on Saturday and the Curragh takes over on Sunday. There are no fewer than six Group 1 races over the weekend and you won’t want to miss any of it. We’ve put together a guide to provide everything you need to know about Irish Champions Weekend, including all the important races and how much prize money is on offer. Day 1 - Leopardstown There are two Group 1 offerings on the first day and a whopping total of €2,500,000 in prize money on offer. The bulk of that is provided by the Irish Champion Stakes, which is a Group 1 over 1m2f and there’s a prize fund of €1,250,000. Arguably the most important race of the entire meeting, it has a prestigious roll of honour and Aidan O’Brien will be going for his sixth win in the last seven years. We also have the Matron Stakes over a mile for fillies and mares and it’s an open renewal this year. The KPMG Champions Juvenile Stakes is one of two Group 2 races on the card and the other is the Solonaway Stakes, where there’s €200,000 on offer. We also have some fiercely competitive handicaps, including the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Petingo Handicap. Day 2 - Curragh The action heads to the home of Irish Flat racing on Sunday and we have a feast of four Group 1 races to sink our teeth into. Ireland’s final Classic of the season, the Irish St. Leger, is the main event and there’s a €500,000 prize pot. It differs from the English equivalent due to the fact that it’s open to older horses and not just three-year-olds. Last year’s English St Leger winner Jan Brueghel heads the ante-post market and rightfully so. He should prove hard to beat, upon returning to this longer trip. The first Group 1 of the day is the Moyglare Stud Stakes and it’s the perfect opportunity for two-year-old fillies to establish themselves as Classic contenders for next season. It’s shaping up to be a cracking renewal, with loads of potential in the line up. One for the boys, the juvenile colts get their chance to do the same in the National Stakes later on in the card. It has been a good race for both Joseph O’Brien and Charlie Appleby in recent years and both could be represented this time around. Ireland doesn’t have the most extensive programme for Group 1 sprinters but the Flying Five Stakes is one for the speedsters over 5f. This race contributes €400,000 to the day’s prize money offering of €2,450,000, bringing the weekend’s total to just shy of €5,000,000.
