Irish Champion Stakes
This years Irish Champion Stakes looks set to be a really good one with the Aiden O’Brien having such a good record in this race and has the favourite again this year with DELACROIX. You could make arguments for all these runners winning this years renewal and so the best way to show who may have the best chance is with a full breakdown of all runner.
Runners Overview
DELACROIX: He was unbeaten over 10f until losing to OMBUDSMAN last time out when he had a pacemaker to help and DELACROIX didn’t get the run of the race. You can disregard his run in the derby which was a weirdly run race but he did go off favourite showing how well regarded he is. He has no Ryan Moore to partner him today and that could be a negative but this 3 year old looks to be of serious quality and will definitely be competitive here, at a track he loves and is unbeaten at.
ANMAAT: Has been unfortunate this season with two 2nds behind LOS ANGELES and OMBUDSMAN. Joint second highest rated horse in the race with SHIN EMPORER. However, is a 7 year old now and seems to be a horse you need to be tactical with to get the best out of. The fact Jim Crowley isn’t riding due to injury means that ANMAATs chances could have taken a hit. ANMAAT will also be conceding weight to others due to age and has had best part of 2 months off for this. Others preferred.
WHITE BIRCH: 10f is his optimal trip and is a group 2 horse on his worst day. Has had 2 battles with LOS ANGELES this season and looked very well last time out when running on well late. Probably needed that first run this season and was slightly unlucky last time out, should be much better here and bit of juice in the ground will help his chances. Has every chance here and could go very well at an each way price.
ZAHRAAN: Very exciting colt and being a 3 year old will be a bonus and may help his chances due to getting weight from other rivals. Ground could be a slight concern as seems to prefer much harder ground. As he is in stall 2, he will be next to ANMAAT, with the feeling that ANMAAT will want cover early then there may be a concern that ZAHRAAN is forced wide. This will take more stamina out of him in this ground but could also help as you can easily be trapped on the inside at Leopardstown. A tricky one to gauge but could go very well with further improvement.
SHIN EMPORER: Was 3rd in this race last year against some very tough opposition. Has had a huge layoff since last run but often does well after a break. Won’t like the softer ground that will be on show here but is a very high class colt and will show ability. Ground is quite a key concern and so is easy to dismiss here.
HOTAZHELL: Has beaten DELACROIX before but has failed to make a huge impact this year and DELACROIX was much the better of the two over this distance. Very good colt but is most likely outclassed at this distance against these.
ROYAL CHAMPION: Was a career best win last out and could well improve off that, get the feeling that this ground won’t be too much of an issue. Was highly outclassed in his last group 1 and so is hard to see him improving that much to win this but could definitely outrun his odds.
MOUNT KILIMANJARO: Will most likely be very outclassed here, may be here to set a nice pace for DELACROIX.
RACE PREDICTION
- Delacroix
- White Birch
- Royal Champion
