Derby rematch just one strand to a glittering Irish Champion Stakes worthy of its rich history

In a marquee Group 1 that has a knack of throwing up epic rivalries, it’s easy to pitch the rematch of the first two home in this year’s blockbuster Derby as another definitive Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes showdown. It is and it isn’t.

Fantastic Light’s satisfyingly tetchy 2001 scuffle with Galileo epitomises the €1.25 million event’s capacity to enthral, but many other memorable jousts came before and after. Only last year, Luxembourg and Onesto engaged in a gripping duel down the Leopardstown straight before the Ballydoyle colt finally saw off his French foe.

Inevitably, in the fullness of time, we learn just how much of an abiding legacy any of these dust-ups might acquire. Twelve months on, the context provided by subsequent developments suggests the 2022 bout’s impact was very much in the moment rather than anything more enduring.