Magical leads Ballydoyle assault as home team bid to end Irish Champion drought

4.15 Leopardstown
Qipco Irish Champion Stakes | Group 1 | 1m2f | 3yo+ | RTE1/RTV

The Irish Champion Stakes has not been very Irish of late. Not since So You Think in 2011 has a home-based horse been successful and he was the most recent of Aidan O'Brien's seven winners of the race.

Saxon Warrior, Churchill, Minding and Australia have all been beaten at odds of 5-2 or less this decade for the Ballydoyle maestro and Magical looks set to head the market this time around. Rightly so, given her impressive CV.

This is Magical's big day. Finally she has the stage to herself without Enable or Cystal Ocean hogging the limelight and her rating of 122 is 2lb superior to Elarqam. Excuses will not wash on this occasion.

"Magical was just about ready to start back at York and we were very happy with how she performed there. It was her first run since the Eclipse in July, so you would imagine she will improve a bit for it. She's in good shape at home and we're very happy with her going into the race," said O'Brien.

It is very seldom you see a Derby winner available at such big odds for an Irish Champion Stakes but Anthony Van Dyck is on a retrieval mission after getting stuck in the mud at Ascot in the King George last time.

"Anthony Van Dyck will love the nice ground. He's a good-moving horse who needs nice ground to be at his best and he didn't enjoy the bad ground at Ascot at all," O'Brien said.

The Ballydoyle challenge is completed by Hunting Horn, who would appear the likely pacemaker in the race, and Magic Wand.

"Hunting Horn and Magic Wand are both very solid horses who have put together some good runs this season. They're both in good form," the trainer added.

Magical

Pros The highest-rated in the race and does not have Enable or Crystal Ocean to contend with on this occasion

ConsHas been seen only once since the Eclipse at Sandown in early July and has found one too good on her last three starts, albeit against Enable and Crystal Ocean

Anthony Van Dyck

ProsThe Derby winner had Madhmoon behind at Epsom and looked a high-class colt earlier in the summer

Cons Arrives on the back of a really poor showing in the King George at Ascot and no match for stablemate Sovereign in the Irish Derby before that

Elarqam camp confident of bold showing after paying €75,000 supplementary fee

There was an overwhelming sense of what might have been in the Elarqam camp after his Juddmonte International effort. He finished third, but that could have been second, or perhaps even first, if the gaps had opened for Jim Crowley inside the final furlong.

The fast-improving son of Frankel was locked up with nowhere to go as Japan and Crystal Ocean went toe-to-toe in the closing stages and Crowley's frustration was evident in his post-race chat with Luke Harvey on ITV when he admitted he should have won.

Elarqam was supplemented at a cost of €75,000 on Tuesday and Mark Johnston believes the four-year-old has proved he belongs at the top level.

Johnston said: "We would have settled for third on the morning of the Juddmonte International but we were left wondering what might have been because of the way the race was run. It certainly confirmed he's a Group 1 horse."

The trainer added: "It would have been a shame to miss the Irish Champion as there are really only two more races for him over a mile and a quarter in Europe this year. That's why we supplemented him. He's had a very similar run into this one as he had for his last two races, so there's no reason to think he's not in the same form.

"At this level you're almost not looking at the opposition. He couldn't have taken on better horses than he took on at York and the same is going to apply at Leopardstown. If he runs his absolute best race he's going to be there or thereabouts."

ProsGetting better with every run and posted a career-best RPR of 123 when an unlucky third to Japan in the Juddmonte International at York last time

ConsYet to win a Group 1 and disappointed on his last trip to Ireland when only sixth to Romanised in the Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh last year

Has Headman got what it takes to win at the top level?

Headman is improving rapidly and we will find out just how far he has come this season as he dives into the deep end for his first shot at a Group 1.

It is hard to believe a horse who finished sixth of nine and beaten over 13 lengths in a conditions race at Newbury on his first start at three is such a short price for the Irish Champion Stakes but Headman has won his three subsequent starts and looks ready for the step up in class.

"I think this is the right race, at the right time and on the right track. His preparation has gone well and he has consistently pleased us but this is clearly a big step up in class and I hugely respect the opposition," said Roger Charlton.

The trainer, who won the race in 2017 with Decorated Knight, added: "We haven't yet really had a chance to see what we have because his last race turned out to be very messy. I do think he's a good horse but I also think he's going to develop into an even better four-year-old as he's very big. I'm therefore content that he's going to run well but I'm not expecting fireworks."

Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager for Khalid Abdullah, believes this is a fact-finding mission.

"We're trying to find out if he's a Group 1 horse. Looking at his physique and what he has already achieved you would have to hope he's a Group 1 horse. It would be surprising if he can't mix it with the Irish Champion Stakes runners, although that isn't to say he's going to win," Grimthorpe said.

ProsA strong suspicion we have yet to see the best of him and arrives at the top of his game having won his last three starts

Cons Has to prove he can do it at the top level and ground is very different to the surface he encountered when winning at Deauville last time

Prendergast reports course specialist Madhmoon to be in rude health

There would be no more popular winner than Madhmoon as his 87-year-old trainer, Kevin Prendergast, goes in search of a Group 1 with his most prized possession.

The three-year-old's form figures at Leopardstown read 1121 and his performance when second in the Derby at Epsom suggests this trip will be right up his street.

Prendergast said: "He's in very good shape and will like the ground. This has been a very lucky meeting for us through the years and this horse seems to like Leopardstown. He has run there four times and has won three of them. I'm very happy with him."

ProsLoves Leopardstown and the 1m2f trip appears to be his optimum

ConsWorkmanlike winner when odds-on last time and has yet to add a Group 1 win to his CV

Deirdre makes history by becoming first Japanese runner in Ireland

No matter what happens in the race, Deirdre will make history when she becomes the first Japanese-trained runner to strut her stuff in Ireland. She is certainly not in the field to make up the numbers judging by the impressive turn of foot she showed down the inside at Goodwood to land the Nassau Stakes.

Oisin Murphy has kept the faith and forfeited the St Leger at Doncaster to make the trip to Leopardstown instead. That speaks volumes.

"I sat on her on Tuesday morning and she was in really good order," said Murphy, who won the race last year on Roaring Lion.

The jockey added: "Hopefully the weather is kind and she gets fast ground. If she does, I think she can run well. This is the obvious race to go for after Goodwood and she couldn't be in better form. It's one of the best races in Europe and it means a lot to me to have won it."

ProsLots to like about the way she quickened up to win the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood and Oisin Murphy has stayed loyal

Cons Takes on the colts this time and it looks a much stronger race than the Nassau

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