Christophe Soumillon will play the role of super-sub in the absence of an injured Ryan Moore on board G1 Irish Champion Stakes (2000m) favourite Delacroix at Leopardstown on Saturday (13 September).
With regular rider Moore sidelined for the season with a broken leg and second choice Wayne Lordan suspended, Aidan O’Brien enlisted the services of the 10-time French Champion Jockey.
The pair will take some beating with O’Brien seeking a 13th success in the Group 1 showpiece in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains, 25 years after Giant’s Causeway got the ball rolling.
The impeccably bred Delacroix is already a dual course and distance winner this season. He displayed electric acceleration to land the G1 Eclipse Stakes (1990m) before getting caught out by race tactics in the G1 Juddmonte International Stakes (2051m).
“York was a bit of a non-event for us but everything has been good since,” O’Brien said.
“Delacroix is very fresh so we’re looking forward to Leopardstown.”
Stablemate Mount Kilimanjaro shapes as a potential pacemaker to ensure Delacroix receives a suitably run race.
Japan’s globe-trotting Shin Emperor returns to try to improve on last year’s traffic-hampered third with his big-race rider Ryusei Sakai glowing after a midweek workout at the Curragh.
“He’s a more mature and stronger horse now and more experienced too. He looks great, very healthy and seems to have settled well into his new environment on the Curragh,” Sakai said.
“I also learned a lot from the race at Leopardstown last year and I hope that experience can help us in the big race. He’s a straightforward horse. He led and won in Saudi Arabia this year, or you can wait with him like we did here a year ago, so I think we will have options.”
John Murtagh is hoping his unexposed Zahrann is as good as he believes when he tackles Group 1 company for the first time.
The three-year-old, partnered by Ben Coen, lines up after a Group 3 success last month.
“His preparation has gone well and we are looking forward to it,” said the trainer, who won the Irish Champion Stakes as a jockey in 1996.
“It’s obviously looking like being a strong race, but we’re excited to let him (Zahrann) take his chance and see what happens,” Pat Downes, head of the late Aga Khan’s Irish studs, said.
Chris Hayes will deputise for the injured Jim Crowley aboard Anmaat, seeking to repeat his 40/1 upset win in last season’s G1 Champion Stakes (2000m) at Ascot.
“He might just be a bit better on soft ground and we will drop in, take our time – Leopardstown is a short straight so it’s a little bit different – but his turn of foot could be crucial,” trainer Owen Burrows said.
Talented grey White Birch (Dylan McMonagle) is another suited by the forecast soft ground, as will recent York winner Royal Champion (Clifford Lee). Hotazhell, fifth behind Delacroix in the Eclipse Stakes, completes the line-up.
Whatever Royal Champion’s fate, trainer Karl Burke will fancy Fallen Angel’s chances in the G1 Matron Stakes (1600m). Runner-up last year, she is aiming to follow up her Group 1 victory at Deauville last month, with January, Exactly and Atsila all reopposing after finishing in her wake in France.
