Magical Leads Ballydoyle Assault on Irish Champion Test

The QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes (G1) at Leopardstown 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 in the 1 1/4-mile test for 3-year-olds and up 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 Crystal Ocean hogging the limelight, and her rating of 122 is two pounds 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," O'Brien said. "It was her first run since the (Coral) Eclipse (G1) 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."

It is very seldom you see an Investec Derby (G1) 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 VI & Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes (G1) 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.

There was an overwhelming sense of what might have been in the Elarqam camp after his Juddmonte International Stakes (G1) 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 Tuesday at a cost of €75,000, and Mark Johnston believes the 4-year-old has proved he belongs at the top level.

"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," Johnston said. "It certainly confirmed he's a group 1 horse.

"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."

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.

Although he finished sixth of nine, beaten over 13 lengths, in his first start at 3, the son of Kingman 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," said Roger Charlton. "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."

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 4-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 Prince 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.

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 3-year-old's form figures at Leopardstown, and his runner-up performance in the Derby at Epsom suggests this trip will be right up his street.

"He's in very good shape and will like the ground," Prendergast said. "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."

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 Qatar Nassau Stakes (G1).

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