Longines Irish Champions Weekend Continues To Attract Strong Irish And International Entries
Initial entries for both the QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes and the Palmerstown House Estate Irish St Leger, the feature races on Longines Irish Champions Weekend at Leopardstown and the Curragh on Saturday, September 10th and Sunday, September 11th, 2016, have shown an increase on last year.
A total of 28 British entries, an increase of nine on last year, are among an initial entry of 63 horses for the €1.25 million QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown. In all, there are 16 Group or Grade 1 winners entered for what is the joint-fourth highest rated race in the world.
John Gosden, successful in the race last year with subsequent European Champion Three-Year-Old Colt Golden Horn, has entered his leading Derby hope Wings Of Desire while Sir Michael Stoute’s Ulysses and the Owen Burrows-trained Massaat are also leading Epsom hopes. They head the British challenge at this early stage and could be joined at Leopardstown by Hugo Palmer’s 2015 Darley Irish Oaks winner Covert Love, Roger Varian’s dual Group 1 winner Postponed and The Grey Gatsby, trained by Kevin Ryan, who won the QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes in 2014.
Dariyan, from the stable of Alain de Royer-Dupre and Andre Fabre’s New Bay head the five entries for the QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes from France while another notable overseas entry is Dee Majesty, winner of the Japanese 2,000 Guineas for trainer Yoshitaka Ninomiya at Nakayama last month.
The home challenge numbers 29 horses and features the Kevin Prendergast-trained Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Awtaad. Fascinating Rock, Found and Success Days, first, second and third in last weekend’s Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup have been entered by trainers Dermot Weld, Aidan O'Brien and Ken Condon respectively. Weld has also entered the unbeaten but long absent Zawraq while another with two wins from as many starts is US Army Ranger, who heads a strong entry from Ballydoyle that also includes the impressive French 2,000 Guineas winner The Gurkha, Newmarket 1,000 Guineas winner and Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas runner-up Minding and Hit It A Bomb, who is three from three and landed the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf when last seen in October.
The Palmerstown House Estate Irish St Leger at the Curragh has attracted an entry of 52. There are 16 British-trained horses compared with 13 last year and among these are last season’s Doncaster St Leger and Group 1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes winner Simple Verse, trained by Ralph Beckett and the recent Chester winner Dartmouth, owned by The Queen and trained by Sir Michael Stoute. Trip To Paris, the Ascot Gold Cup winner, is a notable entry for Ed Dunlop.
Wasir and Alex My Boy, who finished first and second in the Group 3 Comer Group International Oleander-Rennen for trainer Andreas Wohler at Hoppegarten two weeks ago, have also been entered for the €400,000 event. The race has also attracted two entries from France with Alain de Royer-Dupre putting in both last season’s Prix Royal-Oak winner Vazirabad and Candarliya, successful in the Prix de Royallieu.
Order Of St George (pictured) won the race by 11 lengths for Aidan O'Brien last year and he is entered once again. O’Brien has a strong team, including Bondi Beach, Highland Reel, US Army Ranger and Port Douglas, to choose from while Willie Mullins is another leading player as Wicklow Brave, third in the race in 2015, and the narrow Melbourne Cup runner-up Max Dynamite, feature among his entry of six horses.
Brian Kavanagh, Chief Executive of Horse Racing Ireland, said,
“The initial entries for the QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes and the Palmerstown House Estate Irish St Leger demonstrate how Longines Irish Champions Weekend continues to make its mark on the international racing calendar. It has truly become the first leg of the European Triple Crown series and the strength of the overseas challenge at this early stage shows the high regard in which these showcase races are held.”
In 2015, Longines Irish Champions Weekend produced six European champions, including Order Of St George, Legatissimo, Golden Horn and Fascinating Rock. The 2016 renewal of Longines Irish Champions Weekend sees further prize-money increases across seven of the races bringing the total prize fund over the two days to €4.5 million.
