Irish Champions Festival: what the RaceiQ data told us about day one

Best Time Index:  Matron Stakes, 7.8 out of 10.

Top speed: Fallen Angel, 40.67mph in the Matron.

Fastest 0-20 mph: Skukuza, 2.34sec in the mile handicap.

Fastest furlong: 11.19sec, Exactly in the second furlong of the Matron.

Highest Finishing Speed Percentage:  Benvenuto Cellini, 110.09%

Delacroix provided the wow factor on the first day of the Irish Champions Festival with a stunning burst that swept him to the front in the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes. 

Christophe Soumillon hit the turbo button with three furlongs to run and his mount zoomed from seventh to first, bagging the stands’ rail into the bargain. “One minute he was not in the picture, the next he was in front,” said a jubilant Aidan O’Brien afterwards. 

He clocked 12.04sec in the eight furlong and then, crucially, 11.83sec in the penultimate furlong. Everything else in the field was between 0.25sec and 1.32sec slower to transform a wide-open contest into a one-horse race. 

His Finishing Speed Percentage was 101.37%, reflecting the solid fractions set by Mount Kilimanjaro, his stablemate, who acted as an orthodox pacemaker. They are a rare thing these days. 

Delacroix was more like the horse who had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the Coral-Eclipse with similar acceleration, rather than the one who had plugged on for second in a peculiar, yet absorbing edition of the Juddmonte International at York last month. 

Being by Dubawi, out of the outstanding Tepin, he is a priceless prospect as a stallion and O’Brien even half-suggested he might have run his last race. 

He’s certainly got nothing left to prove over ten furlongs, but why not drop him back to a mile for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes? Conditions will, most likely, be testing, bringing his stamina in to play, and it would only increase his standing and value as a stallion if he were to win, with little damage done if he fails. He’s 6-1 for the Champion Stakes, and 14-1 for the QEII. 

Anmaatwas carried out on his shield in second, clocking similar sectionals to Delacroix until the penultimate furlong when there was a shift in power. 

He was marginally quicker than the winner in the final furlong and will no doubt be back to defend his Champion Stakes crown. He’s quoted at 8-1, with Ombudsman (2-1), Calandagan (11-4) and Delacroix the horses ahead of him in the betting. 

Ombudsman’s electric displays this year have come on quick ground, while Anmaat beat Calandagan at Ascot 12 months ago. Delacroix may not show up. At 8-1, there are worse ante-post each-way punts. 

Royal Champion ran a cracker in third, without any excuses, while Hotazhell had every chance and stuck to his task in fourth, being fastest in the final furlong. Bizarrely, he’s entered in the QEII and Arc, but not the Champion Stakes. 

White Birch sat last for the first five furlongs before plugging on to be fifth. He could have done with softer ground but had been off since May and perhaps needed the outing more than expected. The Champion Stakes looks a no-brainer for him, not least because he may get his favoured going. He’s available at 20-1. 

Shin Emperor was unable to replicate his run of 12 months ago on the slower going, while Zahrann could not take his form to another level on a day when his yard had a superb double. 

Mount Kilimanjaro gets an assist in his stablemate hitting the back of the net, even though he dropped away to finish last. He is in the Champion Stakes if connections wanted to repeat the dose, but he isn’t in the QEII, although he could be supplemented if there was a desire. 

An absorbing renewal in which the tenacious Fallen Angelrallied to go one better than last year. 

Karl Burke, her trainer, said afterwards that he thought “we were beat” a furlong from home and the sectionals would have supported his theory. Never mind losing the lead to Exactly, she was only fourth fastest through that penultimate furlong. 

She’s tough, though, and battled back gamely to clock 12.83sec in the final furlong. Only one horse was quicker, Atsila (12.76sec), but she was too far back to land a blow. 

Exactly, having been 0.21sec quicker through furlong seven to grab the initiative, was 0.21sec slower than her in furlong eight, surrendering the small advantage she had gained 

The first two were in the first four throughout but that was not an obvious advantage. The win time was 1.66sec quicker than par, with the Time Index being 7.8. 

January, touched off by Fallen Angel in France last time, briefly flattered to get into contention but finished tamely. 

We got two sporting spectacles for the price of one here, with Clifford Lee and the hard-pulling Convergent having a rare old wrestling match in the early stages as they went steady. 

Given his exuberant nature and the energy wasted, it seemed certain that Convergent would fold when it mattered most, but instead he kept on galloping. It was a taking success, not least that he still took some pulling up once the contest was all over. 

He clocked 12.04sec, 11.53sec and 12.14sec for the final three furlongs with his FSP being 108.83%. So, it was a race that centred around speed, rather than stamina. 

The first four home were all in the first five with half a mile to run, with those held up being at a disadvantage. 

It certainly was not run to suit Al Aasy, the short-priced favourite, who ended up being a never-nearer fifth. He was only 0.18sec slower than the winner through the final three furlongs, but the damage had been done. 

Those who backed Diamond Necklace down to 1-2 favourite must have had an anxious moment inside the final two furlongs when commentator Jerry Hannon noted she had “ground to make up” from fifth place. 

But they need not have worried. She surged through the last quarter of a mile in 23.91sec under a confident Soumillon, with her Finishing Speed Percentage (FSP) being 105.43%. She clocked almost 40mph in the penultimate furlong, easily the top speed in the race, just as those at the head of affairs were beginning to wilt. 

That combination – her quickening and the leaders running out of steam – made for a slightly flattering visual impression, but that’s not to say she is an exciting filly. 

She had also been strong at the finish when winning on her debut at The Curragh, with Aidan O’Brien was swift to mention Group One targets afterwards. It seems the Fillies’ Mile or Prix Marcel Boussac are likely to beckon, with most bookmakers cutting her to 4-1 for the former. 

Hold your bets as the trainer also has such as Composing and Beautify up his sleeve in this division. That pair run in the Moyglare Stud Stakes on Sunday. 

The other to take out of the race was the winner’s stablemate, Venosa, who went hard front the front (fastest of all the runners in the first three furlongs and second fastest in furlong four) before fading and being the only runner not to have an FSP of 100% or more. 

However, having cut little ice on her first two starts, it could be that she has unwittingly signed herself up as a pacemaker for key races this autumn. 

All four runners were trained by members of the O’Brien family and it was a rather uneventful affair, with the quartet going steady early on before dawdling through the fourth and fifth furlongs. 

We ended up getting a three-furlong dash, with Benvenuto Cellini being much the strongest, putting daylight between himself and his rivals. His FSP was more than 110%, indicative of the sluggish gallop. 

He had won a similarly slow-run race over a mile at Killarney two months ago, when making all, and if his sectionals tell us anything, it’s that he probably has the pace to cope with a drop to 7f. 

O’Brien sees him as a middle-distance horse for next year, though, with Soumillon suggesting the French Derby could suit him. Before that, he’s no bigger than 3-1 for the Futurity Trophy at Doncaster on October 25. 

This race was notable for some fast mid-race sectionals and a decisive winner in Alakazi. 

Only four of the nine runners managed an FSP of 100% or more, including the winner, whose top speed of 39.2mph was only sixth fastest overall. 

Johnny Murtagh mentioned the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes for him afterwards, but that will ask a lot more of him. He’s a 66-1 chance. 

The eye-catcher in the race was seven-year-old Mutasarref, who chased home the winner, having still been last of the nine runners with two furlongs to run. 

This represented a change in tactics as he is usually ridden close to the pace. He was quickest in each of the final two furlongs, with first-time cheekpieces clearly not doing any harm. 

He’s won six Listed/Group Three races and could yet win another before the season is out.