Except for the Irish Derby (G1), the 1¼-mile Irish Champion Stakes (G1) is the Emerald Isle’s most important race. They’ve been running it since 1976 at Leopardstown Racecourse in the Dublin suburbs, and on Saturday trainer Aidan O’Brien will try to win it for the 13th time.
O’Brien, the Master of Ballydoyle, last won the Champion with Auguste Rodin in 2023. Since 2009 it’s been a Breeders' Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” for the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1), which Auguste Rodin also won two years ago. He was the fourth to hit the Champion Stakes-Turf double, joining European superstars Daylami (1999), Fantastic Light (2001) and High Chapparal (2003).
Saturday’s co-feature at Leopardstown, the mile Matron Stakes (G1), will award the winner a berth in the 1 3/8-mile Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1), which like the 1½-mile Turf will be run Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
The only horse to sweep the Matron and the Filly & Mare Turf is Iridessa, who pulled off a 13-1 upset at Santa Anita in 2019. She was saddled by former star jockey Joseph O’Brien, who made his mark on the world stage that day by defeating horses trained by his father, Chad Brown and John Gosden.
The card’s third “Win and You’re In” is the mile Champions Juvenile (G2), whose winner gets a pass into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1). It’s been won by Auguste Rodin and Delacroix, another of Aidan’s future Group 1 heroes.
In the strange but true category: You may be wondering whether leopards are native to Ireland. The answer is no, and here’s why the track is called Leopardstown.
It’s located in an area that during the Middle Ages was home to a leper colony, known as “town of the lepers.” People afflicted with the dreaded contagious disease were forced to live outside Dublin’s city limits. The name Leperstown eventually was changed to Leopardstown.
Betting Odds at Leopardstown
For those who like to bet horse racing, here’s some intel on the Champion Stakes, Matron and Champions Juvenile, with program numbers and early-line odds in parentheses.
The rich always get richer, and this five-horse family affair is the ultimate example. No matter who finishes first, a member of the all-powerful O’Brien clan will accept the trophy.
Aidan trains 7-5 favorite Montreal (4) and Benvenuto Cellini (2, 3-2). Joseph O’Brien trains Hardy Warrior (3, 6-1) and Nil Bua Gan Dua (5, 25-1), and his younger brother Donnacha will saddle A Boy Named Susie (1, 12-1), who happens to be owned by his sister Ana.
None of the horses has competed more than twice or won anything but a maiden race, and all have early speed. Montreal and Hardy Warrior are course-and-distance winners, and Montreal’s eight-length runaway at Leopardstown points him out.
Fallen Angel (No. 2, 9-4), a three-time Group 1 winner, was a close second in this race last year behind superstar Porta Fortuna. Fallen Angel also edged Aidan O’Brien’s January (11, 5-2) by a head last month at Deauville. January is a talented teaser who’s 9-for-10 in the money with only two victories. She’s lost six in a row, never has run at Leopardstown, and looks vulnerable at a short price.
Cercene (9, 7-2) is 4-for-4 in the money this year, including a 33-1 shocker in the mile Coronation Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot. She has excellent company lines, having chased Aidan’s filly stars Whirl and Lake Victoria.
The 3-year-old Delacroix (5, 11-8) is sure to be favored, possibly at even money or maybe lower. He’s fond of Leopardstown (two wins, two seconds in four tries) and 10 furlongs (3-for-3), but let’s not concede him the race. He’s only 1-for-4 in Group 1, and 7-year-olds Anmaat (1, 4-1) and White Birch (4, 7-1) have excellent records at the distance against some of Europe’s best.
Anmaat has two Group 1 victories and ran second this year to heavyweights Ombudsman and Los Angeles. He’s 2-for-6 with three seconds going 1¼ miles. The gray gelding White Birch (3-for-4 at the distance) also was runner-up this spring to Los Angeles, one of O’Brien’s leading contenders for next month’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1), Europe’s most prestigious race.
