Kevin Blake's Big Race Verdict: Auguste Rodin to defend Irish Champion Stakes crown

• Day one of the Irish Champions Festival is at Leopardstown on Saturday

• Irish Champion Stakes favourite Economics may be suited by further

• Defending champ Auguste Rodin could have the race set up for him

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The Irish Champion Festival is the jewel in the crown of Irish Flat racing. There are highlights throughout the season, but in terms of internationally relevant top-class action, the Irish Champions Festival stands out from the rest. The fact that six of the 13 Group 1 races that Ireland stage all season take place over these two days hammers home just how important it is.

Irish Champions Stakes provokes wonderful memories

In amongst a feast of top-class action, there is no doubt that the biggest and most important race in all of Irish Flat is the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes (15:25) at Leopardstown.

The list of previous winners of the race brings back so many wonderful memories. The noughties produced a particularly brilliant sequence of contests, with Fantastic Light and Galileo serving up a race for the ages in 2001, High Chaparral coming out on top in a dramatic and controversial finish in 2003 and Sea The Stars enjoying the perfect homecoming when winning it in 2009.

That is only three of them, but the memories run much deeper than just those magnificent races. It really is a stage for epics and the hope is that this year's race will produce a similarly memorable contest.

Ballydole should dictate the pace

From a pace map perspective, this looks to be a race that Ballydoyle will be able to control. They have Hans Andersen (6) who has played the role of pace maker on multiple occasions this season. They also have Luxembourg (7) who helped push a solid pace in this race last year and made all to win the Coronation Cup at Epsom earlier this season.

Los Angeles (5) is another that stays further than this and is comfortable racing prominently. Of the non-Ballydoyle contenders, Royal Rhyme (1) and Ghostwriter (2) can race prominently, but they are unlikely to want to get in amongst the Ballydoyle pace for fear of getting dragged into a potentially strong pace.

In short, this race will be run whatever way Ballydoyle choose to run it. Their main hope Auguste Rodin (4) was well suited by following Luxembourg in a well-run renewal of this race last year and that is the most likely scenario to unfold here.

Mind, if Tom Marquand assumes that will be the case and drops in from his wide draw, the Ballydoyle team might choose to tap the brakes after the positions have been established to drop the pace and make Economics' task of getting into the race from the rear in race run at a below-par pace more difficult.

The unknowns and options that Ballydoyle have will give Marquand a serious headache from stall eight, as if he stays out and delays committing to a position to see what those in front are doing, he will leave himself in danger of getting caught wide.

Ballydoyle don't always get their tactics right, as was shown in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot in July, but they usually succeed in making a plan that maximises their chance of winning the race. It will be fascinating to see which plan they execute.

Will 10f be on the sharp side for Economics?

Three-year-olds have won 13 of the last 20 renewals of this race and it is a three-year-old in the shape of the William Haggas-trained Economics that many will see as the brightest potential star in the field.

Owned by Shaikh Isa Salman Al Khalifa of the Bahrani Royal family who sponsor this race, he erupted onto the big-race scene when slamming the high-class Ancient Wisdom by six lengths in the Dante Stakes. Of some concern in the immediate aftermath of the race was that he appeared to bleed from the nose, though it was speculated that it may have been the result of him banging his head on the stalls before the off.

Following that victory there was a great amount of pressure placed on his connections to supplement his for the Derby for which he would been at the head of the market, but they had taken a strong view that Epsom wouldn't suit him at all and thus were not for turning.

A notably big colt, Economics was instead given time before reemerging in the Prix Guillaume d'Ornano at Deauville in August.

Drawn widest, he was initially caught three wide with no cover until his rider took his back to the rear of the field. He showed rawness through the race, initially taking good hold, but then needing to be niggled along from halfway. Having come off the bridle not far inside the three-furlong pole, he made steady headway towards the lead until the afterburners kicked in with 100 yards to race. From there, he really put his stamp on the race, surging on to score by two lengths from Jayarebe.

The Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes represents a really interesting choice of target for Economics. Watching his last two runs and assessing his long, relatively slow stride patterns, plenty points to the likelihood that a mile-and-a-half might well prove to be his best trip rather than this shorter distance.

The main hope will be that his pace has been obscured through a fog of inexperience in recent starts and that he will sharpen as he gets more streetwise in his races. If he doesn't sharpen up, he could well be vulnerable here.

As detailed above, there is enough uncertainty in the pace setup to make Tom Marquand's job in terms of tactics from stall eight a tricky one. For all his abundant promise, there are too many concerns to make him an appealing betting prospect at his current odds.

Stable tactics could set Auguste Rodin up to defend his crown

To me, Auguste Rodin is the one. His tendency to throw in an occasional bad run when expectations have been high has resulted in him earning a mixed reputation, but those handful of disappointments shouldn't obscure the reality of just how good he is.

Very few colts ever win six Group 1s as he has done and most of the times he has won, he has given the impression that he had more in the tank on the day having looked to idle.

The setup of this race in terms of pace and draw could hardly be more favourable for him and whichever way Ballydoyle decide to run the race, he is likely to be in the best position. While a potential swooper like Economics is always a dangerous rival for Auguste Rodin given his tendency to idle when in front, the hope is that he'll get a long enough tow into the race from his high-class stable mates for that not to be a major issue.

It promises to be a brilliant race and my hope is that when all is said and done, Auguste Rodin will come out on top.

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