Irish Champions Festival: Dates, races, runners, history & more

One of the leading international flat festivals, the two-day Irish Champions Festival is the most prestigious flat meeting in Irish racing.

The Irish Champions Festival was introduced in 2014 and takes place every September. It is staged across Ireland's two premier flat courses - Leopardstown and the Curragh.  

The 2024 renewal features six Group 1 races including the Royal Bahrain Irish Champions Stakes and the final Classic of the season, the Comer Group International Irish St Leger.

Irish Champions Festival dates

The Irish Champions Festival is a two-day meeting and the 2024 edition will be staged from Saturday September 14th to Sunday September 15th.

Irish Champions Festival venue

The Irish Champions Festival is staged over two days at two separate courses, Leopardstown and the Curragh.

Saturday's action, which is headlined by the Royal Bahrain Irish Champions Stakes, is staged at Leopardstown before Sunday's racing takes place at the Curragh, where the Comer Group International Irish St Leger takes centre stage.

As well as the Irish Champion Stakes, day one features the Group 1 Matron Stakes and two Group 2's, the Solonaway Stakes and the Golden Fleece.

In addition to the Irish St Leger, Sunday features the Flying Five Stakes, the Moyglare Stud Stakes and the Vincent O'Brien National Stakes, all of which retain Group 1 status.

Irish Champions Festival how to watch

Every race from the Irish Champions Festival can be watched live via the bet365 live sports streaming service.

Racing TV will have full live coverage of every race from the Irish Champions Festival, while selected races will be broadcast to terrestrial viewers via ITV Racing (UK) and RTE (Ireland).

Irish Champions Festival history

The Irish Champions Festival was introduced in 2014 but day one's feature race, the Irish Champion Stakes, predates the event having been introduced in 1976, when French-trained Irish Derby winner Malacate doubled up under Lester Piggott.

The Irish St Leger was inaugurated in 1915 and, like its English equivalent, was initially restricted to three-year-old's before becoming an open-age race in 1983 when Mountain Lodge won the race for jockey Declan Gillespie and trainer John Dunlop.

Initially called the Irish Champions Weekend, the two-day meeting was rebranded in 2023 as the Irish Champions Festival.

Irish Champions Festival most successful trainer

As is the case with most Irish flat meetings, Aidan O'Brien dominates the roll of honour and he's been particularly successful in the Irish Champion Stakes in recent years, winning the last five renewals with Magical (2019 and 2020), St Mark's Basilica (2021), Luxembourg (2022) and last season's dual Derby hero Auguste Rodin (2023).

John Gosden has also saddled two winners of the Champions Stakes since the introduction of the Irish Champions Festival, first claiming the prize with Anthony Oppenheimer's Golden Horn and then with the Qatar Racing-owned Roaring Lion in 2018.

O'Brien has won the Irish Champions Stakes on 12 total occasions and he's also trained the winner of the Irish St Leger on four occasions over the last ten years.

The Ballydoyle supremo has also won the Group 1 Matron Stakes three times since the Irish Champions Festival was introduced. He has also claimed the National Stakes four times, the Moyglare Stud Stakes three times and the Flying Five on two occasions from 2014 onwards.

Irish Champions Festival most successful jockey

Thanks to his association with Aidan O'Brien and the Coolmore partners, Ryan Moore has been comfortably the most successful jockey in the Group 1 races at the Irish Champions Festival over the last decade.

The 40-year-old has won the Irish Champion Stakes five times over the last ten renewals. He has won the Irish St Leger three times and he's tasted success in each of the other four Group 1 races at the meeting, winning the Moyglare Stud Stakes, the National Stakes and the Flying Four twice and the 2016 Matron Stakes aboard Alice Springs.  

Irish Champions Festival famous winners

A galaxy of stars have won the Irish Champion Stakes including the Grey Gatsby, who flew home to nail Derby winner Australia in the final strides in the first edition of the race following the creation of the Irish Champions Weekend in 2014.

Unlike Australia, Derby winners Golden Horn, partnered by Frankie Dettori, and Auguste Rodin have both gone on to achieve the Derby-Irish Champion Stakes double.

Magical, the Aidan O'Brien-trained Pivotal filly, did the double in 2019 and 2020 and also won the British Champion Stakes in 2019.

Order of St George won the Irish St Leger in both 2015 and 2017 for O'Brien and two-time Ascot Gold Cup winner Kyprios also won the race in 2022.