Irish Champion Stakes: runner-by-runner guide and 33-1 tip
By Andy Stephens
Last Updated: Sat 13 Sep 2025
John Gosden may not fancy taking on “multiple Aidan O’Brien entries on a track with a short straight” in the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday but others are up for the challenge.
Runners from Britain and Japan will attempt to prevent O’Brien winning the race for a thirteenth time, while Johnny Murtagh and Jessie Harrington will be plotting how they can achieve first triumphs in the 2000-metre showpiece.
O’Brien has left in only two runners, with Delacroix, already a two-time winner over course and distance this year, being his No 1.
The Coral-Eclipse winner, runner-up in the Juddmonte International on his latest start, has an official rating of 126, with the handicapper believing he has at least 3lb up his sleeve.
Here’s a guide to all the runners.
1 ANMAAT
Official rating: 123. RaceiQ Top Speed: 40.78mph. Odds: 5-1.
As a seven-year-old, he would be the oldest winner in the race’s 49-year history. In fact, the only horse older than five to prevail has been Swain, who scored as a six-year-old in 1998.
Anmaat does not know how old he is, though, and he remains low mileage, having had only 17 races. He’s only had eight runs in the past three years.
He’s shaped as if retaining all his powers this term, being beaten half a length by Los Angeles in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at The Curragh before beating all bar Ombudsman in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot. The gelding travelled typically powerful on both occasions, only succumbing to Ombudsman’s electric turn of foot on the second occasion.
The rain that has fallen at Leopardstown this week can only help Anmaat because, while he’s versatile regards underfoot conditions, he does cope better than most with easy going, or softer, such as in last year’s Champion Stakes when he upstaged Calandagan and Economics. You can watch a replay of that above.
He’s only once finished outside the first three and, at the very least, it will be a surprise if he does not improve that sequence.
2 ROYAL CHAMPION
Official rating: 120. RaceiQ Top Speed: 42.32mph. Odds: 20-1.
Another seven-year-old, but one with less gears and an inferior record than Anmaat.
That said, the globeterotter (he had a spell being trained in Australia last autumn) probably ran as well as he has ever done when winning the Sky bet York Stakes in ready fashion on his latest start.
He beat Almaqam by the best part of three lengths that day and the form got boosts in France over the weekend, with the runner-up subsequently running creditably in the Prix Foy, and Bay City Roller, an also-ran, going close in the Prix Niel.
This is Royal Emperor’s optimum trip and he’s versatile regards the ground, but he will be back in much deeper waters and has made little impact in four previous Group One assignments.
3 SHIN EMPEROR
Official rating: 123. RaceiQ Top Speed: 41.01mph. Odds: 5-1.
The Japanese challenger was a close third behind Economics and Auguste Rodin in this race last year, when he stayed on stoutly in a strongly-run renewal after meeting some trouble in running. That came after a 111-day break, so his five-month absence is not a great concern.
He’s had ups and downs in the intervening 12 months, with highlights being going close in the Japan Cup, in November, and then making the most of a drop in class to land a Group Two prize in Saudi Arabia, in February.
However, the globetrotter bombed in the Arc, on soft ground, before those efforts and faded tamely when last seen in action, in the Sheema Classic.
He probably needs an end-to-end gallop to be fully effective over this trip, but he can be keen I’d be nervous if Ryusei Sakai feels the need to force the pace, as he has on his past two starts. It certainly did not work for him in Dubai.
Soft ground is also a concern, given he remains unproven away from a sound surface.
4 WHITE BIRCH
Official rating: 121. RaceiQ Top Speed: 42.2mph. Odds: 8-1.
White Birch has been absent since May (Healy Racing)
The ghostly grey is a quality act, and he is slipping in under the radar as we have again seen little of him this season.
There was plenty to like about his return at The Curragh, when edged out by Los Angeles, and he was a leading fancy to retain his Tattersalls Gold Cup with that run under his belt, but things did not unfold ideally for him. He had to settle for a close fourth behind the same rival, with Anmaat also about a length and a half ahead.
We have not seen him in the intervening 111 days, with a scorching summer partly to blame because he’s a horse who does enjoy some dig in the ground.
That’s not to say he does not handle quicker conditions, it’s just that he copes with slower going better than most. His lay-off is not a great concern given that he can go well when fresh.
White Birch’s past five runs have all been at The Curragh and the short straight at Leopardstown is a niggle given that he is routinely patiently ridden, although it will be less of a concern if the ground remains on the soft side.
5 DELACROIX
Official rating: 126. RaceiQ Top Speed: 41.17mph. Odds: Evens.
Seeks to make amends for his odds-on defeat at this meeting last year, when he got turned over in the KPMG Champions Juvenile Stakes.
The Dubawi colt began this year with successive Group Three victories over course and distance, although they were more about style than substance.
His flop in the Derby took some swallowing for those who sent him off the 2-1 favourite but he went some way to erasing that memory when somehow clawing back Ombudsman in the Eclipse.
Maybe that effort left a mark because the acceleration he showed at Sandown was missing in the Juddmonte International at York last time. He plugged on for second place but Ombudsman comprehensively turned the tables on him.
A third meeting between the pair has dissolved, with the respective trainers of the pair instead trading jibes.
Delacroix could well take advantage, but he has been on the go since the end of March, plus had only 24 days to recharge his batteries since his spin on the Knavesmire. He’s going to be up against rivals with fresher legs and that does not look factored into his price.
6 HOTAZHELL
Official rating: 117. RaceiQ Top Speed: 41.89mph. Odds: 33-1.
This has been a challenging season for Jessie Harrington with her biggest win coming at Group Three level, but don’t discount Hotazhell putting a smile back on her face.
He has done his best to keep the flag flying, finishing third in the Irish 2000 Guineas; fifth to Delacroix in the Eclipse; and then fourth in a Grade One at Saratoga last time. Those bare stats do not do him justice.
He was much too keen from the front at Sandown, and then didn’t get the rub of the green when held up in America last time. A colt who dug deep to pip Delacroix in the Futurity Trophy on testing ground at Doncaster last year has a bigger performance in him.
Another plus is that eight of Harrington’s 25 winners in Ireland this year have been secured since August 16, with her strike-rate in September being 19 per cent. Between April and July, when she had 16 winners from 266 runners, and it was 6%.
You could not describe her stable form as hotazhell, but things are belatedly warming up.
7 MOUNT KILIMANJARO
Official rating: 109. RaceiQ Top Speed: 40.01mph. Odds: 80-1.
He was Group One-placed as a two-year-old and landed the Dee Stakes at Chester in May, but that cannot disguise the fact that he must be some way down the pecking order at Ballydoyle.
He looked a tricky ride when beating one home in the Great Voltigeur last time, hanging to his left in the closing stages.
Having made the running on occasions in the past, it’s possible that he will be deployed as a pacemaker. Alternatively, he could take up his Group Three engagement over 1m 4f on the same card.
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8 ZAHRANN
Official rating: 111. RaceiQ Top Speed: 40.5mph. Odds: 5-1.
Unraced at two, Zahrann has progressed into a smart performer this year and Johnny Murtagh has said several times that he reminds him of Sinndar, who he guided to Derby and Arc glory.
He booked his slot in this contest by landing the Royal Whip over ten furlongs at The Curragh, although he was only workmanlike and the form is something of a puzzle, with his 80-rated stablemate, a 300-1 chance, chasing him home.
Zahrann had previously been unable to get to grips with Amiloc in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot when, if anything, he looked like he might be a St Leger horse.
The official ratings indicate he has got a lot to find with the principals and I just cannot see him being quick enough, unless the ground is a lot softer than expected.
VERDICT
Win, lose or draw, Delacroix looks too short in the betting. I think that goes for Zahrann, too, while Shin Emperor is unproven away from fast terrain. Anmaat and White Birch are class acts who will have no excuses after a wet week at the track, but the value shout has to be HOTAZHELL. He beat Delacroix fair and square on testing ground at Doncaster last autumn and simply has not been seen to best advantage, given contrasting rides, on his past two starts. With his stable finally finding some form after a quiet campaign, he is worth siding with at 33-1 with either Sky Bet or Paddy Power.
1 HOTAZHELL. 2 ANMAAT. 3 WHITE BIRCH
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