Shin Emperor has “done enough” preparation ahead of the G1 Irish Champion Stakes on Saturday and will take things easy into the race after his Friday arrival at Leopardstown racecourse, where jockey Ryusei Sakai will be riding for the first time.
It had looked like Sakai would have the benefit of experiencing race-riding at the track before the big 10-furlong showdown with the six-time Group 1 winner Auguste Rodin and the emerging talent Economics, but the race order at the nine-race World Pool fixture means he will go in fresh.
“We were going to have his training partner, La Familia, race just one race before the Irish Champion Stakes, but the time changed so now it’s the Irish Champion Stakes first and La Familia’s race is after that. So Ryusei will not ride in any race before he rides Shin Emperor,” said Hiroshi Ando, spokesperson for trainer Yoshito Yahagi.
“But Leopardstown is not like Ascot or Goodwood, and Ryusei Sakai has ridden at those tracks, he has ridden all over the world, Newmarket July Course, too, they’re tricky tracks. I don’t think the track at Leopardstown will be difficult for him, it’s not tricky, so it doesn’t bother him and we’re not really concerned about that.”
Shin Emperor has not raced since his smart third in the G1 Tokyo Yushun, the Japanese Derby, at the end of May, and connections have made it clear that the weekend’s race is vital preparation for his main target, the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on October 6.
“Our target is the Arc so at the moment we have to make space to improve him for his next race, but we are going to Leopardstown to do our best,” Ando continued.
“The Irish Champion Stakes is one of the great races in the world as well, so we will be up against some very good horses, and to win would be great, but hopefully he will run good. It’s exciting.”
Shin Emperor and La Familia, both of which run in the silks of tech billionaire Susumu Fujita, were booked to arrive in Dublin on a chartered flight from Paris. The colts have been training at Chantilly since they arrived there on August 27.
“Shin Emperor is happy in Chantilly and the weather has been a big help,” Ando said. “If he had been in Japan it would have been very hot, so that’s a big advantage for him, to prepare in France where the weather has been really helpful to us.”
The French-bred Shin Emperor faces seven rivals. The Aidan O’Brien-trained Auguste Rodin has proven to be an in-and-out performer but has shown brilliance on his day, most notably when winning this race and the G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf last year.
The William Haggas-trained Economics is unbeaten in three starts this year but will be stepping into the highest grade for the first time. The chestnut emerged as a potential star when an impressive winner of the G2 Dante Stakes in May, but connections opted to miss the Derby at Epsom and he has since won a late summer Group 2 at Deauville.
No Japanese-trained horse has won in Ireland, with Deirdre, fourth to Magical in 2019 being the only other to attempt the Irish Champion Stakes.
La Familia will contest the mile and a half Group 3 on the card. The three-year-old broke his maiden first-up at Hanshin in March but has finished last in all three starts since.
