Leopardstown review and free video replays of Irish Champions Weekend
By Sporting Life
17:51 · SAT September 14, 2024
A review of the rest of the action from Leopardstown on the first day of Irish Champions Weekend.
Sing when you're winning
Chantez (6/5 favourite) overcame her inexperience to win the Ballylinch Stud Irish EBF Ingabelle Stakes, a Listed race for fillies.
Settled in midfield by Colin Keane as Ballydoyle pair Easy Mover and Garden Of Eden shared the running, Chantez moved onto their outside with two furlongs to run but jinked when hitting the front.
Keane managed to maintain her forward momentum and once back on an even keel, she picked up again to win a shade cosily and provide trainer Ger Lyons with a third victory in the race.
There were three parts of a length back to Garden Of Eden in second with better fancied stablemate Bubbling a close third having weaved her way through the field on the inside having had just two behind her turning in.
Lyons believes there's a good deal more to come from the daughter of Wootton Bassett, saying: "I'm surprised she got to the front and wandered; you can see her ears pricked so there's plenty left in her.
Chantez wins at Leopardstown
"I haven't talked to Colin yet but I'd say we'd be putting her away and looking forward to her next year; she's a lovely filly. I like this filly a lot and with a winter under her back, she's really something to look forward to. That's the first time she's been green in her races, but I'd be surprised if there's not huge improvement going over the winter with her; she's one to really look forward to."
Keane added: "She travelled through the race well and I thought she was going to put it to bed and just went left and right and then copped on to the photographers at the bottom of the straight in the last half furlong and really pricked her ears. That's not a bad thing, there's still plenty left in the tank which is a good sign. She's a light-framed filly and if she can improve and strengthen up over the winter, she could be very exciting."
Chantez was given quotes of 33/1 from Betfair and Paddy Power for next year’s 1000 Guineas but Lyons isn't convinced she is the best filly in the stable, saying: “If we didn’t have Babouche and Red Letter you’d be very high on this one going into next spring.
“Getting one for each race is a struggle so having three to go to war with over the winter is something to really look forward to."
When asked what his pecking order would be among the trio, he said: “Red Letter, potentially over a trip. Babouche is fantastic and push-button, but I’d have Red Letter all day.”
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Impact denies green Delacroix
Experience was deemed to be a factor when Green Impact (5/2) beat Delacroix over course and distance in July but Jessica Harrington's colt again had his rival's measure in the KPMG Champions Juvenile Stakes.
Only four went to post for a Group Two Aidan O'Brien had won for the last two years with Diego Velazquez and Auguste Rodin and Delacroix was sent off an odds-on favourite to complete his hat-trick. Stablemate Bernard Shaw made the running before being passed a furlong out by the eventual winner.
Ryan Moore had already pulled Delacroix out to challenge but his mount, who was restless in the stalls when winning at the Curragh, took too long to find his stride and although he did stay on late in the day, he was half a length down at the line.
Winning jockey Shane Foley said: "It was messy early but I got into a nice position and he's a horse that stays well. He's so laid back I think he can go a mile and a half, his mind is probably his best attribute."
Green Impact could be a Derby horse
Harrington commented: "He's pretty good, a very relaxed horse. It was hard work up the straight there into the headwind. He keeps on finding, he's going to be a lovely mile and a quarter, mile and a half horse for next year. I would love to win the Derby. He’s out of a Galileo mare so there is no reason why he wouldn’t get a mile and a half. He's got to furnish up and do everything so I think he will improve for next year."
Green Impact was cut to 10/1 from 14s for Doncaster’s Futurity Stakes next month, with Coral going 33/1 for the 2025 2000 Guineas.
Owner Marc Chan’s racing manager Jamie McCalmont made the trip to Ireland rather than heading to Doncaster to watch the owner’s stalwart Kinross in the Park Stakes and said: “He’s the first horse that Marc Chan has ever bred so it’s amazing for him. He’s in Hong Kong and he’ll be over the moon with this.
“Jessie and Kate thought he was a good horse back in April and said ‘we’re going to run this horse on Irish Derby weekend’ and they were 100 per cent right. That will be it for the year now and we’ll dream for next year. He’s done all we want to do this year and that’s enough for him. Kate and Jessie say he just needs the time. He’ll be a great horse for us next year, hopefully.”
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Diego tees up international goals
Diego Velazquez (10/11 favourite) won on Irish Champions Weekend for a second time when keeping on resolutely in the Tonybet Solonaway Stakes.
Sent into a share of the early lead by Ryan Moore, last year's Champions Juvenile winner only had Flight Plan for company and barely saw another horse in the one mile Group Two.
Moore gradually wound up the pace and although there were a host of challengers spread across the track just in behind, none ever looked like getting to Diego Velazquez who was a length and a half clear at the line.
Mutasarref was his nearest pursuer with Mountain Bear and Poker Face the next two home in a bunch finish where Maljoom caught the eye having made up a good deal of ground from the very rear of the field.
“He’s a lovely, straightforward, genuine horse,” said Aidan O’Brien, the winning handler.
“He has pace enough for a mile and will probably get a mile and a quarter. He’s a lovely relaxed, uncomplicated horse. Christophe (Soumillon) rode him (in the French Guineas) and said ‘this horse is going to win a Group One very quick’ after it. Then it just went a little bit wrong on us. We went to the French Derby, and it was the wrong thing as it was too quick. Then I went up to a mile and a half at Ascot, which was the wrong thing as well.
“He’s a speed horse, he’s probably a miler that will get a mile and a quarter.”
Diego Velazquez was cut to 6/1 from 20s by Paddy Power and Betfair for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on QIPCO British Champions Day, but O’Brien suggested he may now go globetrotting in the immediate future.
“He could go to a Breeders’ Cup Mile or the Cox Plate,” added O’Brien. “Adelaide was third in a trial in France on this weekend (10 years ago) and he won the Cox Plate.”
O'Brien completed a double on the day when Fighter (9/1) and Wayne Hassett led home Chemistry (3/1 favourite) and Moore - a one-two for the stable - in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Petingo Handicap.
The pair were first and second throughout but Fighter showed an impressive turn of foot at the top of the straight with the Frankel colt going six lengths clear in a flash and he only needed to be kept up to his work to win by four lengths.
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McManus goes with his instinct
Rarely does a racing festival go by without the famous gold and green hoops of owner JP McManus being carried to victory and Trustyourinstinct (3/1 favourite) did the honours in the Group Three Tonybet 'We're Here To Play' Stakes.
Runner-up to the last two winners of the St Leger - Continuous and Jan Brueghel - on his last two starts, Trustyourinstinct faced nothing of that calibre this time around.
Dylan Browne McMonagle settled the favourite in second behind Kinesiology who quickened off the front but was run down passing the furlong pole by Trustyourinstinct who kept on to score by a comfortable length and three quarters.
Kinesiology held off a challenge from Thunder Roll to hold on for second; Sumiha was fourth.
The winning jockey said: "He's a very solid horse, just been hitting the crossbar and bumping into top quality horses but he's very genuine and it was a very well deserved win.
"He loves quick ground, first time at the trip but he's got a really good rhythm to him and you're able to put him into a nice position without using up too much and I was able to just commit when I needed but he stayed the mile and a half well and, hopefully, can keep on progressing."
Trainer Joseph O'Brien doesn't have any immediate targets for Trustyourinstinct, commenting: "We'll probably have a look at what good pots he can run for internationally as well as at home and in the UK. To win a Group race is well deserved and we'll enjoy today before we look further afield."
There was a close finish in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Sovereign Path Handicap with Dance Night Andday (12/1) getting the better of Gleneagle Bay by a head to score for Ross O'Sullivan and Ronan Whelan.
Vera's Secret (10/1), trained by John Feane, showed her rivals a clean pair of heels under Nathan Crosse in the HKJC World Pool Autumn Fillies & Mares Handicap. She skipped clear of the field in the straight and was never in any danger.
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