Horse Racing stats man, Andy has contributed to OLBG for 18 years - An Ipswich fan and F1 fanatic, he also contributes EFL football and Motor Sport opinion.
2025 Irish Champion Stakes Preview
The Irish Champion Stakes is a Group 1 race open to runners who are aged three or older, the race takes place in September of each year during the Irish Champions Weekend and is run over one mile and two furlongs at Leopardstown racecourse.
Established in 1976, the race was originally named in honour of Joe McGrath, a former racehorse owner and a man honoured for his work with hospital charities.
In 2009, the race became part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series where the winner earns an automatic spot in the Breeders Cup Turf that same year.
Irish Champion Stakes Information:
- Irish Champion Stakes Past Winners
- Irish Champion Stakes Trainer Statistics
- Irish Champion Stakes Jockey Statistics
Why not use the trends shortlist below to help you narrow down the field and then head over to the dedicated Leopardstown tips page to see which runners are being supported by the OLBG expert racing tipsters to find yourself a bet? You may also be interested in other preview blogs that we have packed full of information, head down to the Races Covered during the Irish Champions Weekend section for links to these.
How competitive is the Irish Champion Stakes market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2021 when the race had an over-round of 109%. The race in 2016 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 126%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Irish Champion Stakes, the over-round has been 115%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £115 which is bet.
Irish Champion Stakes Trends:
Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? From the past 20 if you had followed the winner of the Irish Champion Stakes next time out then you would have backed a total of 7 winners. Backing all 17 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of +7.75. Whilst we wait for the 2025 Irish Champion Stakes remember you can get daily racing predictions from the expert tipsters on the racing predictions page.
The runner that holds the record over the past 20 renewals for the slowest time in the race was set in the 2022 renewal when Luxembourg from A P O'Brien under the guidance of Ryan Moore, won in a time of 2:12.10, whilst at the other end of the spectrum, Snow Fairy, trained by Ed Dunlop and ridden by Frankie Dettori set the quickest time of 2:00.92 in the 2012 renewal.
These are the top three quickest-run Irish Champion Stakes over the last 20 renewals:
- Snow Fairy (2:00.92) in 2012
- Dylan Thomas (2:02.27) in 2007
- Auguste Rodin (2:02.68) in 2023
What the expert says...
Since 2006 the Juddmonte International Stakes has supplied nine winners of this race, only two of those did the double, Sea The Starsin 2009 and Roaring Lion in 2018.Irish Champion Stakes Past Winners
Here are the Irish Champion Stakes' past winners for the last 10 renewals. Each row details the year of the race, the horse which won along with the age & weight of the horse. Also detailed is the stall where the horse came from and the total number of runners in the race. The horse's trainer and the jockey at the time of winning the Irish Champion Stakes are also displayed, along with the starting price at which the horse was sent off.
| Year | Horse (Drawn) | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 2:03.20 | Economics (GB) 3yo 9-3 (8 of 8) 7/4F | Tom Marquand William Haggas (GB) |
| 2023 2:02.68 | Auguste Rodin (IRE) 3yo 9-3 (2 of 8) 11/4F | Ryan Moore A P O'Brien (IRE) |
| 2022 2:12.10 | Luxembourg (IRE) 3yo 9-3 (6 of 7) 7/2 | Ryan Moore A P O'Brien (IRE) |
| 2021 2:11.19 | St Marks Basilica (FR) 3yo 9-3 (4 of 4) 5/6F | Ryan Moore A P O'Brien (IRE) |
| 2020 2:05.08 | Magical (IRE) 5yo 9-6 (5 of 6) 9/2 | Seamie Heffernan A P O'Brien (IRE) |
| 2019 2:06.49 | Magical (IRE) 4yo 9-4 (3 of 8) 11/10F | Ryan Moore A P O'Brien (IRE) |
| 2018 2:07.21 | Roaring Lion (USA) 3yo 9-1 (8 of 7) 8/11F | Oisin Murphy John Gosden (GB) |
| 2017 2:08.36 | Decorated Knight (GB) 5yo 9-7 (10 of 10) 25/1 | Andrea Atzeni Roger Charlton (GB) |
| 2016 2:08.93 | Almanzor (FR) 3yo 9-0 (10 of 12) 7/1 | Christophe Soumillon J-C Rouget (FR) |
| 2015 2:05.41 | Golden Horn (GB) 3yo 9-0 (1 of 7) 5/4F | Frankie Dettori John Gosden (GB) |
Where have the winning runners come from?
Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Irish Champion Stakes have been based:
- IRE: 12 winners with an additional 15 placings from 99 runners
- GB: 7 winners with an additional 10 placings from 37 runners
- FR: 1 winner with an additional 1 placing from 8 runners
- JPN: 0 winners with an additional 1 placing from 2 runners
Irish Champion Stakes Trainer Statistics
The leading trainer in the Irish Champion Stakes over the last 20 renewals is A P O'Brien who has won the race ten times with those ten winners coming from Oratorio (2005), Dylan Thomas (2006 & 2007), Cape Blanco (2010), So You Think (2011), Magical (2019 & 2020), St Marks Basilica (2021), Luxembourg (2022) and Auguste Rodin (2023). The only other trainer to have recorded multiple wins in the Irish Champion Stakes is John Gosden (3 wins). There is one trainer who has not had the best of times in the Irish Champion Stakes, D K Weld has sent a total of 11 runners to the race without recording any wins.
Here are some of the top Irish Champion Stakes trainer statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):
| Trainer | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| A P O'Brien | 57-10-23 | -18.91 | -16.04 |
| John Gosden | 4-3-4 | +4.98 | +3.44 |
| J S Bolger | 13-1-2 | -11.38 | -9.23 |
| Roger Charlton | 4-1-2 | +22.00 | +12.61 |
| J-C Rouget | 3-1-1 | +5.00 | +2.20 |
| Ed Dunlop | 3-1-3 | -0.12 | +1.27 |
| William Haggas | 3-1-1 | -0.25 | -0.95 |
| Kevin Ryan | 2-1-1 | +6.00 | +3.38 |
| D K Weld | 11-0-0 | -11.00 | -10.00 |
| Kevin Prendergast | 4-0-1 | -4.00 | -2.70 |
Irish Champion Stakes Jockey Statistics
The leading jockey in the Irish Champion Stakes over the last 20 renewals is Ryan Moore who has won the race five times with those five winners coming from The Grey Gatsby (2014), Magical (2019), St Marks Basilica (2021), Luxembourg (2022) and Auguste Rodin (2023). Other jockeys who have recorded multiple wins in the Irish Champion Stakes are Seamie Heffernan (3 wins) and Frankie Dettori (2 wins).
Here are some of the top Irish Champion Stakes jockey statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):
| Jockey | R-W-P | Win | EW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Moore | 10-5-8 | +10.18 | +6.13 |
| Seamie Heffernan | 15-3-8 | -1.25 | +1.91 |
| Frankie Dettori | 6-2-5 | -0.87 | +1.21 |
| Christophe Soumillon | 4-1-1 | +4.00 | +1.20 |
| William Buick | 4-1-3 | +1.00 | +0.78 |
| Tom Marquand | 2-1-1 | +0.75 | +0.05 |
| Oisin Murphy | 2-1-1 | -0.27 | -0.54 |
| Andrea Atzeni | 1-1-1 | +25.00 | +15.00 |
| Declan McDonogh | 8-0-1 | -8.00 | -5.70 |
| Wayne Lordan | 4-0-1 | -4.00 | -2.30 |
2025 Irish Champion Stakes Trends
Favourites finishing positions (oldest to latest): 5, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1, 8, 7, 1, 1, 2, 1, 3, 1, 1
The percentage shown is the percentage of the total number of runners who fell under that factor. High percentages are less appealing than lower ones as you would expect them to do well.
- 20 / 20 (57%) - Achieved an RPR of 118+ (Season)
- 20 / 20 (63%) - Achieved a TS of 100+ (Last 3)
- 20 / 20 (73%) - Highest Won is not G3/LST/Cl2-4
- 20 / 20 (75%) - No bigger than 25/1
- 20 / 20 (75%) - Achieved a TS of 101+ (Career)
- 20 / 20 (76%) - Ran over 1m2f - 1m4f (Last Win)
- 20 / 20 (76%) - Not on HY/SFT/FM (LTO)
- 20 / 20 (77%) - Beaten no more -3¾l (Debut)
- 20 / 20 (77%) - Had 3 - 11 wins (Non-Hcps)
- 20 / 20 (81%) - Had 3 - 11 wins (Career)
- 20 / 20 (81%) - Won within last 4 starts
- 20 / 20 (82%) - Carried 121 - 133lbs (LTO)
- 20 / 20 (82%) - Achieved an RPR of 111+ (Last Win)
- 20 / 20 (84%) - Within the first 6 of the market
- 20 / 20 (88%) - Highest Placed is not G3/LST/Cl2-3
Remember to use the trends listed above along with the Leopardstown racing predictions to see if you can find the winner of the Irish Champion Stakes. Maybe you are looking to back something in this race on the tote, but you are not sure of the process or how the tote works, No problem! We have an article which is dedicated to The Tote for you to read which explains everything you need to know! Be sure to check out the other articles in the OLBG Betting School.
Are you already a member? If not, then why not? With over £6,000 given away each month in the tipster competition, why not get involved? Remember, It is completely FREE! So, head over to the registration page to sign up today! If you are already a member, then share your thoughts on the Irish Champion Stakes by adding a tip on the race here.
Irish Champion Stakes Trend Analysis
The trend factor which had produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +12.41 is when runners ran at York last time out. The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 0 career places with the jockey, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-37.
Here are the most recent winning draws along with the further placings in brackets:
- 2024: Winner in 8 (4,3) [8 Runners]
- 2023: Winner in 2 (4,6) [8 Runners]
- 2022: Winner in 6 (4) [7 Runners]
- 2021: Winner in 4 [4 Runners]
- 2020: Winner in 5 (3) [6 Runners]
The course which has produced the most winners of the Irish Champion Stakes is York, there has been a total number of 10 winners of this race who ran at York last time out. The next best courses which have produced the second most winners are Deauville and Sandown, there has been a total number of 3 winners from each of those courses.
The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 16 winners from a total of 122 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 4 winners from a total of 24 runners.
Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Irish Champion Stakes:
- Galileo (5 Wins)
- Danehill (3 Wins)
- Cape Cross (2 Wins)
These are the stallions whose offspring have not produced a winner of the Irish Champion Stakes despite multiple attempts:
- Frankel (0 Wins from 6 runners)
- Montjeu (0 Wins from 5 runners)
- Teofilo (0 Wins from 5 runners)
Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Decorated Knight in 2017, winning for Roger Charlton at odds of 25/1 under the guidance of Andrea Atzeni. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 11 winning favourites in the race. Before placing your bet on the 2025 Irish Champion Stakes head over to see which other runners today are being backed by the best racing tipsters today.
Article Contributor Information
We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this Irish Champion Stakes Preview are at hand, Andy and James. They both work on the Horse racing tips team team looking after the tipsters and managing the tips settlement, whilst also creating and managing all of the horse racing event previews for International racing.
Races Covered during the Irish Champions Weekend
Here is the schedule for the two-day Irish Champions Weekend which is run at Leopardstown on Saturday and then the Curragh on Sunday for races which we cover with blogs, each race will be linked to the race blog and detail last year's winner in the table below.
Saturday at the Irish Champions Weekend
Leopardstown hosts the opening day of the Irish Champions Weekend, the highlight of the day being the Irish Champions Stakes, a race dominated by Aidan O'Brien in recent years with him winning all of the last five renewals and has won the race a total of twelve times.
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| Leopardstown Champions Juvenile Stakes | Green Impact (IRE) 2yo - 5/2 | Mrs John Harrington Shane Foley |
| Leopardstown Solonaway Stakes | Diego Velazquez (IRE) 3yo - 10/11 | A P O'Brien Ryan Moore |
| Leopardstown Matron Stakes | Porta Fortuna (IRE) 3yo - 5/4 | Donnacha Aidan O'Brien Tom Marquand |
| Leopardstown Irish Champion Stakes | Economics (GB) 3yo - 7/4 | William Haggas Tom Marquand |
| Leopardstown Petingo Handicap | Fighter (IRE) 3yo - 9/1 | A P O'Brien Wayne Hassett |
| Leopardstown Sovereign Path Handicap | Dance Night Andday (IRE) 4yo - 12/1 | Ross O'Sullivan Ronan Whelan |
Sunday at the Irish Champions Weekend
Sunday of the Irish Champions Weekend is hosted at the Curragh with four Group 1 races, the highlight being the Irish St Leger, Aidan has not been as dominant in this with just six wins, three behind both Vincent O'Brien and Dermot Weld.
| Race | Last Winner | Info |
|---|---|---|
| Curragh Bold Lad Sprint Handicap | My Mate Alfie (IRE) 3yo - 12/1 | G M Lyons Colin Keane |
| Curragh Blandford Stakes | Hanalia (IRE) 3yo - 12/1 | J P Murtagh Shane Foley |
| Curragh Moyglare Stud Stakes | Lake Victoria (IRE) 2yo - 11/2 | A P O'Brien Wayne Lordan |
| Curragh Flying Five Stakes | Bradsell (GB) 4yo - 2/1 | Archie Watson Hollie Doyle |
| Curragh National Stakes | Scorthy Champ (IRE) 2yo - 12/1 | Joseph Patrick O'Brien Dylan Browne McMonagle |
| Curragh Irish St Leger | Kyprios (IRE) 6yo - 2/5 | A P O'Brien Ryan Moore |
| Curragh Northfields Handicap | This Songisforyou (USA) 6yo - 9/1 | Emmet Mullins Colin Keane |
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