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Dual Derby hero Lambourn, Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas and 1,000 Guineas victors Field Of Gold and Lake Victoria, Epsom Oaks winner Minnie Hauk, Coronation Stakes heroine Cercene, multiple top-flight victor Porta Fortuna and the highest rated horse on the planet, Ombudsman are among a mouth-watering assembly of potential thoroughbred greats being lined up to descend on Leopardstown and Curragh Racecourses for Irish Champions Festival on September 13-14.

The Group 1 entries for this electric two-day festival of elite action have been unveiled, with 48 still in the running for the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown, including Japanese, French and British-trained horses, and 40 possible participants in the Coolmore America Justify Matron Stakes.

While Saturday’s Group 1s focuses on the clash of the Classic generation with the older horses at Leopardstown, Sunday offers four treats highlighting speed, stamina and the stars of the future in the form of the Comer Group International Irish St Leger (52 entries), the Moyglare Stud Stakes (63), the Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes (49) and the Bar One Racing Flying Five Stakes (46).

Aidan O’Brien is the winning-most trainer when it comes to the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes and he boasts 17 entrants in total at this stage.

These include the Oaks 1-2 of Minnie Hauk and Whirl, and the latter illustrated her continuing wellbeing when staying on strongly to score in the Group 1 Paddy Power Pretty Polly Stakes at HQ on Saturday from the Andrew Balding-trained Kalpana, who has also been included.

Ballydoyle could be represented too by Prix du Jockey Club winner Camille Pissarro, Poule d’Essai des Poulains winner Henri Matisse and Lambourn’s predecessor on the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby roll of honour, Los Angeles.

Economics won a thrilling renewal of the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes last September and William Haggas has him in the mix along with 14 other British-trained entrants.

John and Thady Gosden have a particularly strong hand, with superstars Ombudsman and Field Of Gold potential contestants.

Ombudsman produced a career-best performance when winning the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes from Anmaat, who is also in the mix, while Field Of Gold followed up his Curragh Classic success by sauntering to victory in the St James’s Palace Stakes.
Shin Emperor was third in last year’s renewal for trainer Yoshito Yahagi, who has also given an entry to Ravel.

Calandagan finally secured a coveted breakthrough at Group 1 level when delivering in Sunday’s Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud for trainer Francis-Henri Graffard and the four-year-old would be a serious contender if lining up.

Joseph O’Brien has yet to put his name on the roll of honour and has given himself four chances.

Al Riffa and Galen were brave runners-up at Royal Ascot in the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes and Listed Wolferton Stakes respectively, and they are joined in the list by Scorthy Champ, a winner of the Group 1 Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes last September, two years after Al Riffa had done the business, and Tennessee Stud, who stayed on to be third in the Derby on the Epsom Downs.

“Obviously a lot is going to happen between now and then but you’d be hoping that at least some of those we have entered would make it to what is always one of the races of the year,” said the boss of Carriganóg Racing.

“You’d be hoping some of Al Riffa, Tennessee Stud and Scorthy Champ might make the Champion Stakes, and Galen as well, off the back of what was a career-best performance at Royal Ascot. We will have to see how the season unfolds.”

Others of distinct interest include the John Murphy-trained Group 1 winner White Birch, and Hotazhell a Group 1-winning juvenile from the Jessica Harrington yard last seen running a promising third in the Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas.

Cercene winning the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot was one of the stories of the racing year as she provided trainer Joe Murphy and jockey Gary Carroll with their first victories at the highest grade.

For Murphy, it came 48 years after saddling his first ever winner, but as befits all competitive types, the taste has given the Tipperary conditioner an appetite for more.

He believes that Cercene is capable of helping all connections realise new dreams.
“She came out of Ascot very well and we are very happy with her,” says Murphy. “We were thinking of going to the Irish Oaks with her but we might be leaning towards the Nassau now and then from there we would definitely be looking to go on to the Coolmore America 'Justify' Matron Stakes at the Irish Champions Festival.

“The reaction to her winning the Coronation was unbelievable. I got over a thousand texts. I think people got a great kick out of it. As I said before, it was liking winning an All-Ireland medal. I waited 50 years to get the first Group 1 but the thing is, when you’ve gotten one, you want two, isn’t that it?

“Cercene is continuing to improve it seems, which is what you like to see, so we’ll look forward to what is to come.”

Cercene went into the Coronation Stakes off the back of an eye-catching third-place finish in the Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas, in which Lake Victoria was a very impressive winner.

Aidan O’Brien’s star filly is among the entries, as is last year’s winner Porta Fortuna, trained by O’Brien’s other son Donnacha. The four-year-old is a four-time Group 1 winner and while she is sidelined at present through injury, she is expected to be back for the latter part of the season.

Zarigana (Francis-Henri Graffard), Choisya (Simon and Ed Crisford), Red Letter (Ger Lyons), One Look (Paddy Twomey), Shes Perfect (Charlie Fellowes) and Swelter (Dermot Weld) are other entries to catch the eye.

Lambourn emulated his sire Australia, and grandsire Galileo by following up with a gutsy victory in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby on Sunday, having triumphed in Epsom.

A return to the Curragh could be on the cards for the stamina-laden colt for the Comer Group International Irish St Leger over a 1m6f. Lambourn’s relaxed racing style and ability to dig deep could prove the ideal ingredients for the final Classic of the Irish season and it certainly looks as if another quarter of a mile would not inconvenience him.

Stablemates Minnie Hauk and last year’s Doncaster St Leger 1-2, Illinois and Jan Brueghel are also among the contingent, with Gerry Keane’s Crystal Black among the more notable entrants, along with Paddy Twomey’s unbeaten Carmers.

The Group 1 contests for two-year-olds at the Curragh on day two of Irish Champions Festival are always intriguing with the present and the future in mind.

The aforementioned Lake Victoria took the eye when winning the Moyglare Stud Stakes last season and her Ballydoyle stablemates True Love and Beautify head the list of this year’s contenders for the female juveniles, after impressing by scoring in the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Group 2 Airlie Stud Stakes at the Curragh respectively.

Ger Lyons’ Lady Imam lost her unbeaten record when second in the latter contest but she had racked up a three-race winning streak to that juncture, which is a considerable feat for a two-year-old at this stage of a season.

Her stablemate at Glenburnie, Suzie Songs was a battling winner of the Group 3 Jebel Ali Racecourse And Stables Anglesey Stakes 35 minutes later and she would also be a lively contender.

Venetian Sun (Karl Burke), Composing (Aidan O’Brien), Brownstown (Gavin Cromwell) and Magny Cours (Danny McLaughlin) would be among those to add lustre to the contest while a number of entrants have still to make racecourse appearances.

Joseph O’Brien could be represented by Green Sense. Victorious on debut at the Curragh, the Starman filly was runner-up to Lady Iman at Group 3 level in Naas but failed to land a blow in the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot, in which Venetian Sun was a runaway winner.

The Owning Hill handler has a quartet of entries in the Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes as he bids for a third victory in four renewals in the colts’ two-year-old highlight. Dial Me In and North Coast are recent maiden winners, while Andab was third in the Group 3 GAIN Marble Hill Stakes after his debut triumph and ran well subsequently to be third in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes.

“Two-year-old-wise, some of ours have won their maidens and some of them haven’t yet,” said O’Brien.

“They’ll all go to their preps and then we’ll decide after that. So it’s a bit harder to say where they’ll go at this stage but we have given them the entries to give ourselves those options.”

The Marble Hill and Coventry were won by Ballydoyle residents, Albert Einstein and Gstaad respectively, and the former, in posting his two victories, has been given rave reviews by Aidan O’Brien, who could also have Norfolk Stakes victor Charles Darwin and Amadeus Mozart in his corner.

Wild Desert and Saba Desert are among a quintet of potential runners for Charlie Appleby, who has won the race three times, with Quorto (2018), Pinatubo (2019) and Native Trail (2021).

The Bar One Racing Flying Five Stakes has flourished since gaining elite status and the Henry Dwyer-trained Asfoora is a fascinating entrant from Australia, while Adrian Murray includes high-class pair Bucanero Fuerte and Arizona Blaze.

Cork Listed winner Powerful Nation is a lightning-fast contender moving in the right direction for the Andy Slattery team, while Erosandpsyche (Danny Murphy) was second in the race in 2022, before missing most of the next two seasons through injury.

The improving Two Stars could well progress to this level for Fozzy Stack, She’s Quality has been consistent for Jack Davison and King Cuan certainly is moving in the right direction too for Paddy Twomey, after being sidelined last term.

Cross-channel horses have won four of the last seven renewals and Queen All Star (Jack Channon), Time For Sandals (Harry Eustace), Big Mojo (Mick Appleby), Azure Angel (Ed Bethell), Khaadem (Charlie Hills) and quadruple Curragh winner Art Power (Tim Easterby) are among the cohort with their names in the hat to augment that record.