All the news on a day to savour at the Curragh and Chantilly
In France and Ireland they know all about making racing sensational on a Sunday.
Irish Champions Weekend thrilled at Leopardstown on Saturday and the second half of the feast is served today, as the action moves to the Curragh with three Group 1s on a card worth €2.2 million.
Last year’s Irish St Leger first and second, Wicklow Brave and Order Of St George, do battle again while the two-year-olds take centre stage in the Moyglare and National Stakes.
O'Brien runs five in the Moyglare but his hand in the National Stakes has been weakened following the withdrawal of odds-on favourite Gustav Klimt.
Also appearing on the star-studded card is one of last season's leading juveniles in Caravaggio, who will be seeking to regain the winning thread in the Flying Five after two short-price defeats.
It’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe trials day at Chantilly. Cracksman, second favourite for the Arc, tackles the Prix Niel while Japanese hope Satono Diamond, third in the market, goes for the Prix Foy.
The Group 1 Prix Vermeille, which Treve ran in both times before winning the Arc, may also throw up clues but the most valuable contest is the Prix du Moulin in which Ribchester, downed in the mud in the Sussex Stakes, seeks a fourth win at the highest level.
York’s Listed Garrowby Stakes, worth £50,000 and featuring Stewards’ Cup winner Lancelot Du Lac, is the highlight in Britain.
Going Report
Fontwell - 2.20
Good, good to soft in places
York - 1.55
Good to soft, soft in places
Curragh - 2.00
Round course: Yielding
Straight course: Soft, yielding in places (from yielding to soft)
Chantilly - 12.50
Soft
Market movers
Curragh
2.35 Seventh Heaven 5-1 (from 6-1)
5.25 Goodthingstaketime 9-4 (from 5-2)
York
3.35 Fighting Irish 4-1 from (11-2)
4.10 Graceful Lady 7-2 (from 5-1)
4.45 Pretty Baby 2-1 (from 3-1)
Key non-runners
Curragh
3.05 7 Hit The Bid
4.15 5 Gustav Klimt
5.55 6 Lightening Fast, 12 St Gallen
York
3.00 6 Ornate
4.10 2 Airton
5.20 3 Silent Echo
Fontwell
5.10 5 Oliver's Hill, 8 Ravens Hill
What to back
Find out why a Charlie Hills juvenile running at York is getting our tipsters excited and three key clues for winners today.
What to read
The opening day of Irish Champions Weekend was one of surprises in both the Irish Champion Stakes and Matron Stakes. Not so at Haydock were Harry Angel soared like one. And find out in the RP Sunday Big Read why Leopardstown hero Andrea Atzenican't wait for the St Leger meeting.
What to watch
The best of Racing Post Sport
Why there could be more pain for Newcastle at Swansea. Plus the top bets forNFL Week One
Final Thought
Shouldn’t we have more Sundays like this?
Published on 10 September 2017inIrish Champions Festival
Last updated 13:48, 10 September 2017
- 'The display was dripping in class' - David Jennings hands out his awards from the Irish Champions Festival
- 'We couldn't have written the stories any better ourselves' - Irish Champions Festival attendances up ten per cent
- O'Brien just keeps on playing the astronomical numbers game and brings up winner number 4,000 at the Curragh
- Curragh: 'She had been running well all season' - consistency rewarded as Lumiere Rock lands Blandford Stakes
- Genius training or ideal ground - what lay behind Auguste Rodin's dramatic revival in Irish Champion Stakes?
- 'The display was dripping in class' - David Jennings hands out his awards from the Irish Champions Festival
- 'We couldn't have written the stories any better ourselves' - Irish Champions Festival attendances up ten per cent
- O'Brien just keeps on playing the astronomical numbers game and brings up winner number 4,000 at the Curragh
- Curragh: 'She had been running well all season' - consistency rewarded as Lumiere Rock lands Blandford Stakes
- Genius training or ideal ground - what lay behind Auguste Rodin's dramatic revival in Irish Champion Stakes?