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Economics and Tom Marquand win the Irish Champion Stakes (Breandán Ó hUallacháin)
By Breandán Ó hUallacháin
Economics (7/4 favourite) denied the reigning champion, Auguste Rodin, in the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown, Ireland, on Saturday.
Trained in England by William Haggas, Economics became the first British-trained winner of the Group 1 contest since Roaring Lion and jockey Oisín Murphy won for John Gosden in 2018.
The victory was a second at Group 1 level on Saturday for rider Tom Marquand, who had won the Coolmore America ‘Justify’ Matron Stakes just half an hour earlier with Porta Fortuna, trained by Donnacha O’Brien.
Economics and Tom Marquand battle up the home stretch with last year’s victor, Auguste Rodin, a six-time Group 1 winner, and Ryan Moore, who had ridden five of the last ten winners of the race prior to today.
As the son of Deep Impact, Auguste Rodin, came to Economics, the son of Night Of Thunder battled to the wire, claiming the win by a neck.
The Japanese runner, Shin Emperor, who was dropping back to ten furlongs at Leopardstown, added another third-place finish to his Japanese Derby placing last May.
Trained by Yoshito Yahagi, Shin Emperor became the second Japanese runner in the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes after Deirdre in 2019.
The winning rider, Tom Marquand, spoke post-race of his mount Economics’ battling qualities:
“He’s not only a very good racehorse, he’s a proper warrior. He’s very talented. Super.
“I had moments where I was worried,” Marquand explained, “but he always felt like he was there for it. Auguste Rodin obviously showed up every bit as good and he was exceptional.
“I am thrilled and for Sheikh Isa (bin Salman Al Khalifa, winning owner) and William (Haggas, winning trainer), it’s huge. I think it’s one we can all walk away from pretty satisfied. Those big calls made early in the season were probably tough to do but justified now. He’s not just a very good horse but an absolute warrior as well.
“I changed my plan a few times. I thought I’d a nice position but then ended up in a tempo that for whatever reason, I didn’t feel happy there. So, I went a bit further, but he possesses that real nice trait of being able to lie up and drop back down.
“It’s so hard taking on horses that know what’s happening and that course knowledge is big as well. He was exceptional.”
It was Economics’ first time in Group 1 company today and he became the first horse since Pentire in 1995 to break their Group 1 maiden in the Irish Champion Stakes. The previous 10 winners of the Irish Champion Stakes were all previous Group 1 winners.
Economics came into the race off the back of two Group 1 successes at York, England, and Deauville, France.
For the runner-up, Auguste Rodin, the defeat denied him a place amongst the winning most trained horses by the Ballydoyle handler. Last season’s dual Derby winner remains one short of the record of seven held by Yeats, Magical, Minding, Highland Reel and Rock Of Gibraltar.
