Juddmonte International top three could clash in Irish
Champion
Thirteen have been left in Saturday’s Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes, which is
shaping up to be one of the top races of the year. The Leopardstown contest is
now the seventh-highest-rated race in the world with a prize fund of €750,000
and the winner will receive an automatic berth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
Declaration of War, the recent conqueror of Al Kazeem in the Juddmonte
International; the 2012 and 2013 Derby winners Camelot and Ruler of the World;
Irish Two Thousand Guineas hero Magician; and last year’s exciting juvenile Kingsbarns spearhead
six entries for trainer Aidan O’Brien, who is bidding for his eighth success in
the race.
Roger Charlton’s Al Kazeem could bid for revenge on Declaration of War, with
owner John Deer keen to take his chances with his three-time Group 1 winner.
“Personally I would like to see him running in the Irish Champion if the
ground is right, but that’s just my opinion,” Deer said. “The trainer might
think differently.”
Al Kazeem had swept this season’s Gordon Richards, Tattersalls Gold Cup,
Prince of Wales’s and Eclipse prior to his third to Declaration of War and
Trading Leather at York.
Trading Leather also holds an Irish Champion entry, and trainer Jim Bolger
issued a positive bulletin on the Irish Derby winner.
“He arrived home from York in good shape and he has been fresh and well
since,” Bolger said.
The Fugue, heroine of the Yorkshire Oaks in her latest, is an intriguing
contender for John Gosden.
Dermot Weld will delay a decision about the participation of the
filly Princess Highway until later this week.
“She is a very talented filly and I don’t think that we’ve seen the best of
her so far this season. She is a very possible runner,” Weld said.
Other notable entries for the race include the French-trained multiple Group
1 winner Cirrus Des Aigles, who will be bidding to bounce back to form after a
disappointing year so far.
The other Group 1 race on the card is the Matron Stakes, which could see
four-time Group 1 winner Elusive Kate line up, alongside the only other
British-based filly and course and distance winner Chigun.
There is a French possible in Alex Pantall’s Kenhope, who was third behind
Elusive Kate in the Prix Rothschild.
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