Item and Constitution River Clash in Irish Champion Stakes
Constitution River Set for Stud
The Gr.1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes is run over 2000m on turf at Leopardstown, open to horses aged three and up, with the going described as good with light rain. The race carries total prize money of €1,250,000 (US$1,362,500), with the winner collecting €711,250.00 (US$775,263) and the runner-up €236,250.00 (US$257,513). Eight runners are declared, headed by Item and Constitution River, with Almaqam, Hotazhell, Lambourn, Wimbledon Hawkeye, A Boy Named Susie and Hawk Mountain completing the field for the 2026 Irish Champion Stakes.
"I'm very happy with both Item and Blue Bolt and I'm hoping they will both go to Leopardstown," Balding said, addressing Item's participation and a possible run in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe afterwards. "The Arc is still in the picture for Item, but he wouldn't want to go a mile and a half on soft ground, that's for sure. He'll go to Ireland and then see."
Constitution River arrives with a form line that reads more impressively than his finishing position at York suggests. He had already won the French Derby (Prix du Jockey Club) and the Coral-Eclipse before travelling to Yorkshire, where the pacemaker plan behind him unravelled, leaving him to fend for himself in the closing stages of that race.
"I think what happened at York was I put in the wrong pacemaker," O'Brien said. "I put in a horse of ours that wasn't good enough to go forward and make the running. I thought he would, but I was a little naïve in thinking that John's horse (Devil's Advocate) would go anyway if we didn't go, but obviously, they didn't have it in their head to go at all because they didn't make any attempt to go." At York, Hawk Mountain made the running with Constitution River racing keenly in second, while intended pacemaker Action missed the break and Devil's Advocate did not go forward either. That sequence of events left Constitution River without cover in the closing stages, a separate factor from O'Brien's own account of the mix-up in the pacemaking plan.
O'Brien's Four Runners Fill the Field
O'Brien has already indicated that Constitution River's season, and quite possibly his racing career, is nearing its end regardless of what happens at Leopardstown. "Probably for me what he did at York has probably been his best achievement," O'Brien said. "Everything went wrong. He had no right to finish third at York, what he did normal horses wouldn't be able to do. He's probably going to go off to stud because he's too important not to. He's big, he's rangy, he's lengthy."
O'Brien saddles three runners in total, also fielding Lambourn, the Derby winner, and Hawk Mountain, winner of the Gr.1 Futurity Trophy, who made the running for the stable at York. Donnacha O'Brien's A Boy Named Susie and Aidan O'Brien's Constitution River, Lambourn and Hawk Mountain give the O'Brien training operations four runners between them in the field of eight, a sizeable presence in a race already thick with Group One form.
Almaqam arrives on the back of his own Group One-winning season. Trained by Ed Walker and ridden by Kieran Shoemark, the 5YO horse won the Gr.1 Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh in May 2026 before finishing second to Item at York.
"Almaqam has been really fresh and well," Walker said. "I was probably more likely to not take in the Irish Champion than to run in it straight after York, but he's come out of that race very well and is in great form. He's realistically got two more targets now this year; the Irish and the English Champion so I think we'll be having a shot."
Delacroix Won in Style Last Year
Walker has also been candid about the 5YO Almaqam's status alongside the two three-year-olds dominating attention this week. "I'm not bothered, but I was quite interested when I saw a headline about the 'Juddmonte rematch' at the weekend and Almaqam didn't get a mention, which made me chuckle," Walker said. "But it doesn't matter, he's very good on his day and if he goes under the radar then that's fine by us."
The remainder of the field is completed by Hotazhell, Wimbledon Hawkeye and Hawk Mountain, each with their own credentials. Hotazhell, trained by Jessica Harrington and ridden by Shane Foley, won a Group One at Munich in August 2026 in a photo finish with Timeforshowcasing. Wimbledon Hawkeye, trained by George Scott and ridden by Christophe Soumillon, is a multiple Group winner who has been competitive without adding another top-level success in 2026.
The Irish Champion Stakes has long been a stronghold for Aidan O'Brien, who has won the race a record 13 times as a trainer, a tally built across three decades of Ballydoyle involvement in the fixture. The 2025 edition, worth the same €1,250,000 (US$1,362,500) as the 2026 running, went to Delacroix, another O'Brien-trained colt, who won in style at Leopardstown.
Clayton Eyes World Pool Broadcast
The Irish Champion Stakes forms day one of the Irish Champions Festival, run alongside the Matron Stakes and the newly Group One-elevated Golden Fleece Stakes, giving Leopardstown three Group One races on a single card for the first time in the track's history. Mark Clayton, chief executive of Leopardstown, has spoken of the scale of the entries assembled for the meeting.
"This will be the first time for Leopardstown to have the privilege of hosting three Group 1 races on a single card," Clayton said. "The entries for the top-level events on the first day of the Irish Champions Festival at Leopardstown are of the highest quality, headed by the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes. At this stage, we could be looking at a record of number of runners from Britain."
Clayton also pointed to the race's international reach beyond the track itself, with the Irish Champion Stakes carrying an automatic invitation to the Breeders' Cup Turf for the winner as part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series. "We are also looking forward to broadcasting the entire programme to our World Pool partners around the globe," Clayton said, underlining the scale of interest the card has generated among British-based connections and international broadcasters alike.
Both Balding and O'Brien have left open what comes next for their principal runners, with Balding naming the Arc as a possibility for Item depending on the ground at Longchamp and O'Brien indicating that Constitution River's Leopardstown run could be among his last starts before retiring to stud.
A Field Shaped by Pace Tactics
With Item rated the highest-rated three-year-old in training and Constitution River unable to reproduce his Coral-Eclipse form at York, the Irish Champion Stakes gives both camps a clean opportunity to restate their claims without the complications that shaped their most recent meeting. Almaqam, running down the field's outside draw in stall eight, offers a third dimension to the contest, drawn away from the rest of the field and carrying the form of his Tattersalls Gold Cup success into this test against the two principals. The remaining runners complete a field that promises a genuinely run contest from start to finish, one shaped as much by pace tactics, including the pacemaking arrangements that so undid Constitution River at York, as by the underlying quality on show among the eight declared runners.
Leopardstown's showpiece brings together the season's two outstanding three-year-olds and a battle-hardened older rival, with Item's unbeaten record since Epsom set against Constitution River's superior form figures and Almaqam's quiet consistency. Eight runners line up for the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes, with an automatic Breeders' Cup Turf berth awaiting the winner and a possible Arc bid still to be settled for Item afterwards. Whatever the placings, the result feeds directly into the autumn plans both training operations, Ballydoyle and Kingsclere alike, have only partly disclosed.
Race Info
Irish Champion Stakes: NA | Group One Flat | FOR 3YO+ | Thoroughbred | Turf | 2000m | 1250000 | Rail Position: NA | Track Condition: Good | Safety Limit: NA | Track Record: NA | Prize Breakdown: 1st €711,250.00 (US$775,263) | 2nd €236,250.00 (US$257,513) | 3rd €111,250.00 (US$121,263) | 4th €48,750.00 (US$53,138) | 5th €23,750.00 (US$25,888) | 6th €11,250.00 (US$12,263) | 7th €-1,250.00 (US$-342) | 8th €-1,250.00 (US$-342)
Contenders
Irish Champion Stakes: Almaqam (T: Ed Walker / J: Kieran Shoemark) | Hotazhell (T: Jessica Harrington / J: Shane Foley) | Lambourn (T: Aidan O'Brien / J: Declan McDonogh) | Wimbledon Hawkeye (T: George Scott / J: Christophe Soumillon) | A Boy Named Susie (T: Donnacha O'Brien / J: Oisin Murphy) | Constitution River (T: Aidan O'Brien / J: Ryan Moore) | Hawk Mountain (T: Aidan O'Brien / J: Pierre-Charles Boudot) | Item (T: Andrew Balding / J: Colin Keane)