Luxembourg Stamps Arc Ticket With Irish Champion Win

An Irish Champion Stakes (G1) run under a blazing autumn sky in front of a raucous Leopardstown crowd Sept. 10 was billed as the moment of truth for Luxembourg  and he delivered in spades courtesy of a vintage Ryan Moore ride.

In thwarting the Gallic challenge of fellow 3-year-olds Onesto  and Vadeni , who endured an amount of traffic under Christophe Soumillon, the Camelot  colt not only saved his own season, but he helped to salvage something for both the classic generation and Ballydoyle.

Put it this way, it's a long time since trainer Aidan O'Brien had to wait until September to produce a group 1-winning 3-year-old colt.

That rare hoodoo was slayed in style when Moore coaxed his game partner home by half a length from Onesto. It made for an epic spectacle as Soumillon tried to beat a path through a wall of horses on Vadeni after challenging from the rear, and Onesto didn't lie down after taking the lead from the pacesetting Stone Age  at the furlong pole.

At that stage, Moore, who had positioned Luxembourg in the middle of the field on the outside, had begun to get serious. The response from his mount, who returned at odds of 7-2, was also suitably serious.

Luxembourg found bundles for pressure to get on top with about 50 yards to run, as an appreciative Leopardstown crowd of 10,280 roared him home.

They then clapped him out of the winner's enclosure, acknowledging they had borne witness to an exceptional encounter. It's possible they were also buoyed by the prospect of what might yet be to come, as a date with destiny, and possibly Baaeed , now looms at Longchamp in this fall's Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1). Luxembourg was slashed to as low as 5-1 from as big 20-1 to follow up in France.

The Irish Champion was also a Breeders' Cup Challenge race, thereby providing paid, automatic entry to the winner into the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) Nov. 5 at Keeneland.

O'Brien, who was winning the marquee €1 million race for the 11th time and a fourth in a row, was moved by the response. He was also likely thinking of Jack de Bromhead's tragic death six days earlier when he faced the press.

"To win a race like that, I don't think we've had an atmosphere for flat racing in Ireland like that in a long time," he beamed.

"He got applauded as he was going out—that's very rare. But that's racing people, when things are going well, everyone is up for it, and when there are sad times, everyone feels it. That's the way racing people are."

Having stumbled badly before keeping on for third in the Qipco Two Thousand Guineas (G1), Luxembourg's season hit the skids days later when O'Brien was forced to rule him out of the Derby with a muscle injury.

Few were taken by the manner of his workmanlike comeback victory in the Fitzdares Royal Whip Stakes (G3) at the Curragh last month, but he was merely dusting off the cobwebs.

"We felt going to the Curragh that he was only ready for a racecourse gallop, but we couldn't come here unless he had a race, and that's why we were so happy with him at the Curragh," he said.

"I promise, he had 20 to 30% to improve from there, and you usually don't run a horse in a group race like that. The plan was to go there, then come here, and then the Arc, so that was the dream.

"All credit to the horse, we set him a fairly stiff task. And the pace was fairly solid here, so you were going to find out."

The answer was pretty emphatic, and Moore was superlative on the winner, demonstrating all of the conviction we associate with him at his best. He obviously had a pretty good idea of the ammunition he had at his disposal, and he wasn't going to be a hostage to fortune.

"He did that very well," Moore said after winning the 10-furlong affair for the fourth time.

"It was a good, even, and fair race. He has beaten some good 3-year-olds and older horses. He put them away nicely, and I think there is more to come from him.

"He always felt like he was in control of the race. Onesto was always there, but I always thought I had him."

Backers of Vadeni, the 7-4 favorite, were left to rue their luck. Soumillon had only Mishriff behind early on, and the decision to stick to the inside, with Colin Keane on Mishriff  forcing his hand a little when closing the door three furlongs down, backfired.

They tried to weave a way through, but the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club (G1) and Coral-Eclipse (G1) hero lacked the tactical turn of foot required to extricate himself from the hole.

Soumillon was philosophical about the defeat afterward. "When you look after at what happened, the horse had a break for two months after his big run in the Eclipse," he said.

"He didn't reply when I asked him like he did in Sandown, probably because he needed it a bit, and the track was a bit soft. With a clearer run and more fitness, I am sure he will be able to beat them next time."