While commercial considerations mean we won’t see Delacroix race into his fourth year, his presence in the QIPCO Champion Stakes at Ascot today turns a brilliant race into an unmissable one.
It might have been all over for him after Leopardstown. In the breathless minutes after his scintillating Irish Champion Stakes victory on September 13, his trainer Aidan O’Brien fired off a stark warning.
“All the things are open,” he said. “But I’m afraid to say it in case the lads say that’s it, and it might be.”
After adding to his previous Group 1 victory in the Coral-Eclipse in brilliant fashion, it’s understandable that the business side of things was at the forefront of O’Brien’s mind. In the moment, it felt like that might be that for Delacroix’s racing career.
But just over a month later, on his 56th birthday, in the more serene environment of his office at Ballydoyle, O’Brien cut a relaxed figure on a QIPCO British Champions Day media call as he fielded questions on his star three-year-old colt.
There was the obligatory ‘how is he doing?’
“Everything has gone great, we’ve been very happy with him.”
The little bit of needle with John Gosden was touched upon, after his playful interview with Donn McClean pre-Irish Champion Stakes.
“I was only saying that light-heartedly and, as you know, John does whinge a little bit after the races whether he wins or he loses!”
York was mentioned and the unsatisfactory way the Juddmonte International played out after the Godolphin pacemaker Birr Castle built up an enormous lead.
“It was a bit of a farce, really. They hacked around and sprinted down the straight for four furlongs, an unusually run race for a race at that level, but it happens.”
So, how can you stop that happening again with another Godolphin pacemaker in there in Devil’s Advocate?
“That’s the $6million question. It will be interesting. All the pacemakers can do is their job and then it’s up to everyone else to follow them and if they decide not to follow them it will be the same again.”
It’s all good stuff, but I was most interested in why the Champion Stakes. Why come to Ascot for another 10-furlong Group 1 when a mile win at the top-level might’ve helped further balloon the stallion fees?
“It was always a possibility, to go to the QEII,” O’Brien said. “But we know what he can do over a mile and a quarter.
I know everyone says he could go back to a mile and maybe he could, but I think the Champion Stakes is the big race on the day.
“Ombudsman is there and all of the best horses look like they are there. It’s good to be part of it and it’s good to be able to run in a race like that with a horse like him that has raced over that distance.
“Ascot was never going to be sure because the ground can go completely and the lads weren’t going to subject him to that, but they made the decision late which was the right thing.
“It looks like the ground is going to be lovely and the lads love racing, being part of those days and having horses to run in them.
They have to be applauded for that because it’s their love for racing that is making them do it more than a business or commercial decision.
“It is a big business and the lads do run a big commercial operation and we appreciate having them (horses) for the one or two years, or however long we have them here.
“If they are here longer it’s extra special, but we understand it’s big business. There are a lot of clients to keep happy and there’s people waiting to breed their mares to those horses.
“They were the factors really and I think it definitely adds to the Champion Stakes that he is there.”While that feels an understatement, O’Brien might be wise to under-play his part in a race that hasn’t been all that lucky for him over the years.
From Newmarket to Ascot, he has had 31 goes in the Champion Stakes and won it just once, with the filly Magical, and his list of colts that have been defeated in this contest include some of the great and good from Ballydoyle.
So You Think, Ruler Of The World, Highland Reel, Oratorio, Fame And Glory, Japan and Los Angeles all tried and failed to win the Champion Stakes, but, betting without So You Think, Delacroix looks his best chance of improving on a 0/25 record with colts and entire horses in Saturday’s big contest.
It won’t be easy.
It’s Delacroix v Ombudsman III. The King George winner Calandagan is in there, too. The returning Economics adds another layer. There’s Almaqam and the Andrew Balding-trained pair, Almeric and Fox Legacy.
“It’s a very competitive race and we always treat every single horse with the utmost respect,” says O’Brien.
“Obviously it’s where everyone wants to be and it’s a massive day’s racing. Ascot is an incredible place and it’s going to be lovely ground. I’m sure everyone is looking forward to it.”
Indeed we are. And if Delacroix does manage to bag O’Brien a second Champion Stakes in a red-hot renewal of the race, he’ll deserve every superlative that will inevitably come his way.
Leave a Reply