An Unsatisfactory Champions Weekend as Moore fails to fire
In what has been a weekend of flat racing to whom everyone in Ireland has been looking forward to, the Irish Champions weekend fell a little bit flat. This was due to a distinct underperformance from some of the stars we were looking forward to seeing. As I left Leopardstown on Saturday night after the first leg of the weekend, I couldn't help but feel an air of despondency around the crowd. It was hard not to be, seeing the bubble burst of yet another few O'Brien horses, something we've become all too accustomed with this season.
I woke up on Saturday morning with a spring in my step, I was off to see some of this year's best flat horses Ireland has to offer. The Leopardstown card was perhaps a little inferior to the corresponding fixture on last year's schedule. However, the weekend's action still looked a compelling and strong set of eight races. Having arrived at the Foxrock course promptly, I was quite surprised to see that the meeting was buzzing with people. I wasn't sure what crowd to expect for this day, but also due to a temperamental weather forecast, I feared the worst. Such fears were quashed within five minutes of arrival. A packed and full of life crowd looked forward to what should have been a cracking afternoon starting off with a competitive and trappy maiden.
The Champions Weekend got off to an impressive start. The Ger Lyons' trained filly, Lightening Quick, got up to snatch victory from Ryan Moore ridden Bye Bye Baby by a neck in the opener. The two came well clear of the remainder of the field and it certainly looked like there was a lot of scope for improvement for the daughter of Frankel with the Fillies Mile at Newmarket a possible next option. This small defeat was unfortunately the start of a forgettable day for fans of the iconic Ryan Moore. However, despite the troubles for Ballydoyle's number one jockey, Aidan O'Brien still ensured himself that he would have a good day. His son Donnacha produced the goods on supposed third string Nelson to win the two year old mile race, while also saddling the runner up and third in the process in a clean sweep of the contest. The first two races had both come in at around the odds of 5/1, the punters not ecstatic nor angry, yet.
With the Enterprise Stakes looming, the generic horse racing favourite backers were getting edgy and had all gone in on the Dermot Weld trained, Eyizra. It wouldn't have been the most comfortable you would have ever been backing a favourite, but Eziyra did tough it out to land the odds and to allow the majority of the punters to form an orderly queue at their respective bookies. Those like myself who thought today was the day US Army Ranger would return to himself were proved extremely wrong, that horse trailing in last of six. One to keep away from in the future I would think.
So we arrived to the first of the two big races on the card in the Matron Stakes. The well regarded and super filly, Winter, was facing up against a strong and versatile field. Despite being a clear favourite, Winter was slightly uneasy in the market and this unease proved to be correct. Having taken up the running two furlongs from home, Ryan Moore looked to nurse the filly home, assuming he had inferior stablemate Hydrangea well covered. This was not to be the case as the Wayne Lordan ridden filly battled gamely to head Winter near the finish to cause a big upset. A stunned silence fell over Leopardstown as Hydrangea returned to the winners enclosure to no more than a sprinkling of applause. It was fair to say she hadn't had many friends in the market and the 20/1 price would have indicated this, Winter beat, a shock winner, a stunned crowd, all in a day's work.
At this stage, the punters were getting restless and decided Sir John Lavery in the Boomerang Stakes was their get out clause. Slashed from 9/4 to Evens on track, the O'Brien trained and Moore ridden colt moving menacingly throughout before being parked behind horses on the turn for home. Sir John Lavery never got a clear run and despite surging late on when getting racing room, he was denied by a length to the fury of all involved in the mini gamble, including myself. Ryan Moore is a world class jockey but this was one of the worst rides he'll have ever given a horse, with clearly the best horse in the race not picking up the spoils.
With the Irish Champion Stakes now upon us, the crowd was getting restless, reputations were getting torn apart, punters money was being lost and an occasional heavy shower was the icing on the cake. Churchill was the last hope, Churchill was the saviour to be. However, that script had not been handed to Churchill himself with the horse languishing to finish sixth having found nothing for pressure in the straight. Not only that, the winner was British raider, Decorated Knight, a mere 25/1 shot. Apart from the odd unsavoury use of language, a pin drop could have been detected after the Champion Stakes, a packed crowd stunned by a lack of a star, a mediocre Champion Stakes at best.
With the two handicaps also falling to outsiders trained by England's Roger Fell and jumps supremo Willie Mullins, it was fair to say the bookies were the victors on the day. I left slightly despondent from the course, I hadn't seen the star performances I craved seeing but in a lot of respects it was a meeting that summed up the unpredictability of the season, a messy year for flat racing. However, the spectacle of the day was magnificent, a superb crowd and atmosphere and a well put together selection of facilities by Leopardstown. It was a day that didn't provide the results I would have preferred but the day itself didn't let anyone down. It showed me what racing should always look like, a great day out for people of all ages.