{"id":416685,"date":"2025-09-11T20:37:31","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T20:37:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/416685\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T20:37:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T20:37:31","slug":"bet-the-irish-champion-stakes-matron-stakes-champions-juvenile-at-leopardstown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/416685\/","title":{"rendered":"Bet the Irish Champion Stakes, Matron Stakes, Champions Juvenile at Leopardstown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Except for the Irish Derby (G1), the 1\u00bc-mile Irish Champion Stakes (G1) is the Emerald Isle\u2019s most important race. They\u2019ve been running it since 1976 at Leopardstown Racecourse in the Dublin suburbs, and on Saturday trainer Aidan O\u2019Brien will try to win it for the 13th time.<\/p>\n

\"\"Leopardstown. Irish Racing Photo.Breeders\u2019 Cup \u201cWin and You\u2019re In” Races<\/strong><\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien, the Master of Ballydoyle, last won the Champion with Auguste Rodin in 2023. Since 2009 it\u2019s been a Breeders’ Cup Challenge \u201cWin and You\u2019re In\u201d<\/a> for the Breeders\u2019 Cup Turf<\/a> (G1), which Auguste Rodin also won two years ago. He was the fourth to hit the Champion Stakes-Turf double, joining European superstars Daylami (1999), Fantastic Light (2001) and High Chapparal (2003).<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s co-feature at Leopardstown, the mile Matron Stakes (G1), will award the winner a berth in the 1 3\/8-mile Breeders\u2019 Cup Filly & Mare Turf <\/a>(G1), which like the 1\u00bd-mile Turf will be run Nov. 1 at Del Mar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The only horse to sweep the Matron and the Filly & Mare Turf is Iridessa, who pulled off a 13-1 upset at Santa Anita<\/a> in 2019. She was saddled by former star jockey Joseph O\u2019Brien, who made his mark on the world stage that day by defeating horses trained by his father, Chad Brown and John Gosden.<\/p>\n

The card\u2019s third \u201cWin and You\u2019re In\u201d is the mile Champions Juvenile (G2), whose winner gets a pass into the Breeders\u2019 Cup Juvenile<\/a> (G1). It\u2019s been won by Auguste Rodin and Delacroix, another of Aidan\u2019s future Group 1 heroes.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Leopardstown History<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the strange but true category: You may be wondering whether leopards are native to Ireland. The answer is no, and here\u2019s why the track is called Leopardstown.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s\u00a0located\u00a0in an area that during the Middle Ages was home to a leper colony, known as \u201ctown of the lepers.\u201d People afflicted with the dreaded contagious disease were forced to live outside Dublin\u2019s city limits. The name Leperstown eventually was changed to Leopardstown.<\/p>\n

Betting Odds at Leopardstown<\/strong><\/p>\n

For those who like to bet horse racing<\/a>, here\u2019s some intel on the Champion Stakes, Matron and Champions Juvenile, with program numbers and early-line odds in parentheses.<\/p>\n

CHAMPIONS JUVENILE STAKES (mile, 2-year-olds)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Post time: 10:20 a.m. ET<\/strong><\/p>\n

The rich always get richer, and this five-horse family affair is the ultimate example. No matter who finishes first, a member of the all-powerful O\u2019Brien clan will accept the trophy.<\/p>\n

Aidan trains 7-5 favorite Montreal (4) and Benvenuto Cellini (2, 3-2). Joseph O\u2019Brien trains Hardy Warrior (3, 6-1) and Nil Bua Gan Dua (5, 25-1), and his younger brother Donnacha will saddle A Boy Named Susie (1, 12-1), who happens to be owned by his sister Ana.<\/p>\n

None of the horses has competed more than twice or won anything but a maiden race, and all have early speed. Montreal and Hardy Warrior are course-and-distance winners, and Montreal\u2019s eight-length runaway at Leopardstown points him out.<\/p>\n

The picks<\/a>: 1 Montreal 2 Hardy Warrior 3 Benvenuto Cellini<\/strong>MATRON STAKES (mile, fillies and mares 3 and up)<\/strong>Post time: 11:25 a.m.<\/strong> ET<\/p>\n

Fallen Angel (No. 2, 9-4), a three-time Group 1 winner, was a close second in this race last year behind superstar Porta Fortuna. Fallen Angel also edged Aidan O\u2019Brien\u2019s January (11, 5-2) by a head last month at Deauville. January is a talented teaser who\u2019s 9-for-10 in the money with only two victories. She\u2019s lost six in a row, never has run at Leopardstown, and looks vulnerable at a short price.<\/p>\n

Cercene (9, 7-2) is 4-for-4 in the money this year, including a 33-1 shocker in the mile Coronation Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot. She has excellent company lines, having chased Aidan\u2019s filly stars Whirl and Lake Victoria.<\/p>\n

The picks<\/a>: 1 Fallen Angel 2 Cercene 3 January<\/strong>CHAMPION STAKES (1\u00bc miles, 3-year-olds and up)<\/strong>Post time: 12:30 p.m. ET<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 3-year-old Delacroix (5, 11-8) is sure to be favored, possibly at even money or maybe lower. He\u2019s fond of Leopardstown (two wins, two seconds in four tries) and 10 furlongs (3-for-3), but let\u2019s not concede him the race. He\u2019s only 1-for-4 in Group 1, and 7-year-olds Anmaat (1, 4-1) and White Birch (4, 7-1) have excellent records at the distance against some of Europe\u2019s best.<\/p>\n

Anmaat has two Group 1 victories and ran second this year to heavyweights Ombudsman and Los Angeles. He\u2019s 2-for-6 with three seconds going 1\u00bc miles. The gray gelding White Birch (3-for-4 at the distance) also was runner-up this spring to Los Angeles, one of O\u2019Brien\u2019s leading contenders for next month\u2019s Prix de l\u2019Arc de Triomphe<\/a> (G1), Europe\u2019s most prestigious race.<\/p>\n

The picks<\/a>: 1 Anmaat 2 White Birch 3 Delacroix<\/strong>\"Ed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Except for the Irish Derby (G1), the 1\u00bc-mile Irish Champion Stakes (G1) is the Emerald Isle\u2019s most important…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416686,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[142866,142867,1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-416685","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-irish-champion-stakes-betting","9":"tag-irish-champion-stakes-odds","10":"tag-racing","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115187590661589674","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}