At 1 1/4 miles on turf, Delacroix has been almost unbeatable this year, leaving the 3-year-old a deserving favorite in Saturday’s Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown Racecourse in Ireland. Delacroix, trained by Aidan O’Brien for the Coolmore syndicate, won two Group 3 races for 3-year-olds at 1 1/4 miles in Ireland in the spring before he finished ninth as the 2-1 favorite in the Group 1 English Derby at 1 1/2 miles on June 7 at Epsom Downs in his only start at the distance. Since then in two starts at 1 1/4 miles, Delacroix beat the star older horse Ombudsman by a neck after overcoming a troubled trip in the Group 1 Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Racecourse near London on July 5 before finishing second to that rival in the Group 1 International Stakes at York Racecourse on Aug. 20. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now.With Ombudsman not part of the $1.46 million Irish Champion Stakes, Delacroix was the 7-4 favorite in early betting Thursday. Aside from the prestige of a win in Ireland’s richest race for 3-year-olds and older horses, the winner of the Irish Champion Stakes receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. Delacroix will be ridden for the first time by Christophe Soumillon, a replacement for Ryan Moore, who has been sidelined with a leg injury. Soumillon, the leading rider in France 10 times since 2003, is expected to feature prominently in stakes mounts for the Coolmore syndicate in coming months. Delacroix, who tends to run from off the pace, must hold off a closer such as Anmaat, who won the Group 1 Champion Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Ascot last October and has been second in two Group 1 races this year – to the O’Brien-trained Los Angeles in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at The Curragh in May, and to Ombudsman in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in June. The race has a non-European runner in the Japan-based Shin Emperor, who was third in the 2024 Irish Champion Stakes and also finished second in the Grade 1 Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse later in the year. Shin Emperor has not raced since a seventh-place finish in the Group 1 Sheema Classic at 1 1/2 miles in Dubai on April 5. Saturday’s program at Leopardstown includes two other group-level stakes with Breeders’ Cup implications. The winner of the Group 1 Matron Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile gains a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 1. Fallen Angel, trained in Britain by Karl Burke, may be a slight favorite over the O’Brien-trained January. Fallen Angel beat January by a head in the Group 1 Prix Rothschild for fillies and mares at a mile at Deauville, France, on Aug. 3. Fallen Angel (10-1) set the pace and was passed by 8-5 favorite January in the final furlong, but fought back to record a narrow win. They are part of a field of 11 in the $469,000 Matron. Only five are entered in the Group 2 Juvenile Stakes for 2-year-olds at a mile, with the winner gaining a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf on Oct. 31. O’Brien has the two leading contenders in the summertime maiden race winners Benvenuto Cellini and Montreal. St. Leger Stakes O’Brien has won the Group 1 English St. Leger eight times, and in the last two years. He appears to have an excellent chance to add to his total when Lambourn and Scandinavia start in Saturday’s running at about 1 3/4 miles at Doncaster Racecourse in England. Scandinavia, who will be ridden by Tom Marquand, will be favored on the strength of a win in the Group 1 Goodwood Cup at two miles against 3-year-olds and older horses at Goodwood Racecourse in England on July 29. Lambourn won the English and Irish derbies earlier this year but was fifth by three lengths in the Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes at 1 1/2 miles for 3-year-olds on Aug. 20 at York as the 4-5 favorite. O’Brien recently told the press in Ireland that Lambourn needed the start at York in preparation for the $949,000 St. Leger. ◗ The Irish Champion and St. Leger are linked via the Global Grade 1 Pick 5, a wager that also includes Saturday’s Grade 1 Summer, Grade 1 Natalma, and Grade 1 Woodbine Mile at Woodbine. The wager, with a 20-cent minimum, has a 15 takeout. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.