RACING / Champion Stakes preview: It's easy to rate today's big event at Leopardstown. Just think the best race in the world this year - and then add a bit of hype.
If this Ireland The Food Island Champion Stakes doesn't float your boat then you ain't never going to leave dry dock.
Even those paid to ignore the pre-race hoopla can't get away from it, and don't particularly want to either. "It's the best race in the world this year by far," declared the official handicapper, Gary O'Gorman yesterday. "To put it in context, Refuse To Bend is the highest rated in Sunday's Prix du Moulin, a good Group One mile race, and yet he would be the among the lowest if he ran at Leopardstown. This is a seriously high standard."
The top bar of that standard is the Irish Derby and King George hero Alamshar who will probably start favourite to provide John Murtagh with a fairytale return from his weight nightmare.
After Hawk Wing's retirement the 131 Alamshar earned for that King George victory officially makes him the best horse in the world at the moment. And yet there are many willing to bet he can be beaten. Of his six opponents, only France, who is widely expected to provide a pace for High Chaparral, can be safely discounted and he is a classic-placed, 117-rated performer.
Typically, Alamshar's trainer, John Oxx, has not come out with any "the rest are only bums" quotes. Even the best horse in the world can't provoke that sort of bravado from the Curragh trainer and he knows better than anyone there are no bums in this a1 million championship.
"Alamshar's last three runs have been at a mile and a half so there has to be a slight worry about going back to a mile and a quarter. Horses of his quality can run at any distance but he will be meeting horses like Falbrav who are more at home over 10 furlongs whereas we're not sure," Oxx said.
Falbrav is a triple Group One winner this season and earned an "up there with the best I've trained" comment from Luca Cumani after his Juddmonte International success last month.
Despite jockey Darryl Holland's concerns about Leopardstown's watering policy, conditions should be perfect for Falbrav but the fact remains the one time he has run into Alamshar he was a distant fifth in the King George.
The fillies Vintage Tipple and Islington are up against it but while Islington appears to be not quite as good as in her classic year, there is no limit to how much Vintage Tipple has improved since that emtional Irish Oaks success.
If she wins there will hardly be a dry eye in the house as 84-year-old Paddy Mullins accepts the pot. With four of the last five renewals of this race falling to Godolphin, any failure to cover Moon Ballad will cost dearly. But the real dark horse looks to be High Chaparral.
Last year's Epsom Derby-Irish Derby-Breeders' Cup winner is a champion at a mile and a half. If he can reproduce his form over the shorter trip he will be a danger to all. The nagging doubt, however, is that he may need one more race to reach peak fitness.
Such doubts don't exist about Alamshar. Indeed few doubts of any kind do. He overcame a breakneck pace to win the Irish Derby, a crawl to win the King George and is a proven article around the track. And the plusses don't end there. Alamshar is finally getting the fast ground Oxx has always said he relishes, comes from an Aga Khan breed that usually improves with time and crucially he is in the pink of health.
"There have been no last minute dramas with his back this time," a relieved Oxx reported yesterday. This time the colt looks like keeping the drama for the track.
