Day 1 - Leopardstown
Saturday 12th September, The Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes Day
Plan Your Day
Day 1 | Leopardstown
Day 1
Racing at Leopardstown
Irish Champions Festival is kicked off with a nine-race card at Leopardstown on Saturday September 12th featuring five Group races. The two feature races on the day are the Group 1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes and the Coolmore America ‘Justify’ Matron Stakes.
The Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes, ranked 6th in the IFHA World's top 100 races in 2023, and the Coolmore America ‘Justify’ Matron Stakes, ranked as the world’s best fillies and mares’ race for the past number of years, are the highlights on the opening afternoon at Leopardstown.
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THE ROYAL BAHRAIN IRISH CHAMPION STAKES
This race has become a leading global contest in recent years, providing some top quality contests. In 2025, the race was won by Delacroix for Aidan O'Brien and Christophe Soumillon In 2024 the race was won narrowly by Economics for William Haggas and Tom Marquand, In 2023 the winner was Auguste Roding for Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore coming second, and Shin Emperor of Japan for Yoshito Yahagi and Ryusei Sakai coming home in third place, In 2022 the race was won by Luxembourg for Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore. The third placed Vadeni went on to finish runner up in the Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe in Longchamp showing the quality of the race.
Previous winners of the race include house hold names such as Sadler’s Wells, Dylan Thomas, Sea The Stars, Fantastic Light, So You think, and in more recent years the likes of Golden Horn, Almanzor, Roaring Lion, Magical (2019 & 2020) and The 2021 Horse Of The Year, St. Mark's Basilica held firm to narrowly take the win in 2021.
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THE COOLMORE AMERICA 'JUSTIFY' MATRON STAKES
Here we have undoubtedly one of the best races of the season, The Coolmore America 'Justify' Matron Stakes was won in great style by Fallen Angel in 2025 for Karl Burke and James Doyle, In 2024 the winner was Porta Fortuna for Donnacha Aidan O'Brien. In 2023, the race was won by Tahiyra for Dermot Weld and Chris Hayes.
There have been some great winners of the Matron Stakes in pervious years including No Speak Alexander, Hydrangea, Laurens, Iridessa and in 2020, Champers Elysees gave Johnny Murtagh his first Group 1 success as a trainer.
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Remainder Of The Card
Elsewhere on the card on Day 1 there is plenty of top class racing apart from the Group 1 action. We also have three valuable handicaps, a Listed Race, a Group 3 and a Group 2 to look forward to.
In 2025, the Group 2 KPMG Champions Juvenile Stakes was won by Benvenuto Cellini under Christophe Soumillon for Aidan O'Brien. This race has since been upgraded to a Group 1
In 2025, the Group 2 Tonybet Solonaway Stakes was won by Alakazi under Ben Coen for Johnny Murtagh. Making it a double on the day for the trainer Johnny Murtagh.
In 2025, the Group 3 CMG Group Stakes was won by Convergent under Clifford Lee for Karl Burke, Which was the first leg of the double for Karl Burke, going on to win the Group 1 Matron Stakes with Fallen Angel.
