Is This the End for ‘Superstar’ Delacroix? Rumors of Retirement Spark Debate A rematch between Delacroix and Ombudsman is unlikely to happen, according to the Irish Angle panel. irishracing.com’s Irish Angle team were discussing the matter after Delacroix’s showstealing victory in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday. John Gosden decided not to send Ombudsman to the race despite beating Delacroix in the Juddmonte International Stakes at York last month. That was the second time the pair had met after Delacroix came out on top in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown in July. After his win at Leopardstown, Aidan O’Brien did not reveal his future plans for Delacroix but there is a feeling he will retire and go to stud. ‘Superstar Level Horse’ “I thought Delacroix definitely stole the show,” Emma Nagle said on this week’s show. “Look, maybe it was a bit deflating earlier in the week hearing Ombudsman wasn't coming into it but if Ombudsman showed up, would he have beaten Delacroix on the day? I thought it was a career best from him, from what he's done so far “People might have been doubting Christophe Soumillon coming into the weekend. “That decision that he made turning the home bend, obviously he had the horse to do it, but he made a massive move turning the home bend. “He went early and Anmaat tried to follow him, but just didn't have the pace to go through that gap the same way he did. It was just an accelerating turn of foot. It was really exciting watching it. “Maybe people might have had doubts. Was he a proper superstar level horse? But I thought that performance there solidified that for me. “Whether or not he'll meet Ombudsman again this year. Will we see Delacroix next year? I think they were coy enough in the interviews afterwards “I'd like to see one more rematch, make it a trilogy. “I was a massive fan of the horse before the weekend but he massively went up in my estimations after that performance. I thought it was huge.” Time To Retire May Be Now “John Gosden was running scared of all the Ballydoyle horses and so it didn't happen,” racing journalist Johnny Ward said of a potential rematch at Leopardstown last week. “It was funny watching the race. They obviously had a slightly different arrangement of the track to other years, with the horses coming up the stand side. It’s unusual to me in the sense of where Delacroix ended up. “The drone footage they showed of the race where he made that move under Soumillon. “I think we need to have way more drone footage in racing. It offers a totally different perspective of what's happening and it's so illuminating. “That turn of foot, that's what separates really good horses from good horses. “Aidan O'Brien, at his yard visit recently, was talking about how much he's going to be an attractive stallion. “There was that kind of coolness between Godolphin and Coolmore for so long and it was kind of madness really when you think about the horses that they were missing out on long term . “Now he's going to have the choice of some very good mares now because of his own pedigree. He can match with all those Galileo-bred mares. “That’s the end of Delacroix now this season, and that’s the nature of the Flat game” irishracing.com editor Vincent Finegan added that the money involved in going to stud may make it too good to turn down in favour of another year racing. He said: “It’ll be disappointing if we don't get to see him again but it's the nature of what happens with Flat racing and going to stud. There's so much money involved.” Watch The Irish Angle In Full Or Listen On Spotify
