Irish Racing / Wayne Bailey / 20 August 2009 / Leave a comment

Wayne Bailey looks ahead to September's clash of the titans, where Sea The Stars and Fame And Glory look set to lock horns once again...

“The only horse to beat Fame And Glory in his six race career has been Sea The Stars; so this is shaping up to be a real cracker of a race”

It's eight years since I first attended the Irish Champion Stakes and Frankie fever was in full flow that day as Fantastic Light beat Galileo on the line. Despite the fact that the odds-on Irish trained horse got turned over, Dettori got an incredible reception from the crowd afterwards and he admitted himself that he was quite overwhelmed by it all. It was a fantastic day out, and the normally reserved flat followers cheered and partied in proper National Hunt style!

Mick Kinane was on the beaten Galileo that day, but eight years on, he'll take the reins on Galileo's half brother in one of the most anticipated Irish flat races this decade. The Irish Champion Stakes has turned out to be one of the highlights of the calendar and along with Fantastic Light; previous winners include New Approach, Dylan Thomas (twice), High Chaparral and Giant's Causeway. Indeed, even Sadler's Wells won back in 1984 when the race was held at the now defunct Phoenix Park racecourse.

Unfortunately for me, I'm off to Canada on a holiday and don't return to Ireland until the Sunday - a day after the race. I'm kicking myself that I've messed up my dates and I doubt I'll get to watch the race live over there. I'll probably be sitting in some airport at racetime so it looks like my brother will be getting a call, and the old style trick of holding the phone up to the TV will be called upon!

Sea The Stars has now won the 2,000 Guineas, The Derby, The Coral Eclipse and The Juddmonte International and any questions about his class have been well and truly answered. But those people who thought they were buying money at York must have had some nightmare moments as Sea The Stars looked like he was struggling for a moment, before finally beating Mastercraftsman by a length. A win is a win, but he belied his Betfair SP of [1.27] and even hit [4.0] in-running at one stage. I said this before York, but he falls asleep a little in front and leaves it very late to get going. So far, so good and it hasn't cost him a big win as yet - but is it just a matter of time before he gets chinned on the line?

In fairness, supporters will rightly point out that he only ever does enough and his winning distances this season have been 1.5 Lengths, 1.75 Lengths, 1 Length and 1 Length. Excluding the 2,000 Guineas, he's always traded higher in-running each time this season so perhaps it's something we should come to expect from the son of Arc winner Urban Sea.

Second in the Epsom Derby, Fame And Glory hasn't been seen since winning the Irish equivalent at the Curragh on 28th June. That race wasn't the strongest but he turned up and completed his task as expected. The O'Brien horses have come on as the season progressed, and even though he shouldn't reverse the Derby form on figures, I'm sure he'll have improved over the summer. The only horse to beat Fame And Glory in his six race career has been Sea The Stars; so this is shaping up to be a real cracker of a race.

But I can't sit on the fence and I'll have to give the nod to Sea The Stars - but only just. I'm not keen on taking an odds-on price this time however, and I'll leave an order for [2.0] and set it to go in-running instead. In fairness, this is a race that can be enjoyed without a bet and even though we're not sure who will make the final line up on the day, the 'outsiders' at this stage include Casual Conquest and Mastercraftsman; which just goes to show how good the quality of this race may turn out to be.

Leopardstown is my local track so I hope they get a bumper crowd in these difficult times and I'd encourage any Irish readers to make the journey to the Foxrock venue. Indeed, it could well be Sea The Stars' penultimate race before retirement so it's worth making an effort to get out and go racing.

The Irish Champion Stakes takes place on Saturday, September 5th at Leopardstown.

Tags: Aidan O'Brien, Casual Conquest, Fame And Glory, Irish Champion Stakes, John Oxx, Leopardstown, Mastercraftsman, Sea The Stars, Wayne Bailey