Leopardstown Horse Racing Tips for Saturday

Racing Post tipster Harry Wilson takes us through his picks for the opening day of the Irish Champions Festival at Leopardstown on Saturday.

Saturday’s Leopardstown Horse Racing Betting Tips and Odds

14:15 Leopardstown – Maljoom @ 11/4
15:25 Leopardstown – Ghostwriter @ 7/1
16:00 Leopardstown – Trustyourinstinct @ 4/1

14:15 Leopardstown – Maljoom @ 11/4

The first race on the card not restricted to two-year-olds is the Solonaway Stakes, a Group 2 over a mile.

Seven of the last 10 runnings of this contest have gone to a British-trained challenger and Maljoom, who drops in class after three runs in Group 1s, looks just the type to continue that trend.

William Haggas' five-year-old has had two long breaks since a fast-finishing fourth in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2022 and has taken a while to rediscover that form.

However, he caught the eye staying on strongly from the rear to finish third in the Queen Anne in June before producing a career-best when second in the Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood last month in first-time blinkers.

It’s best to ignore his latest effort when going beyond a mile for the first time in the Juddmonte International, as he was slowly away and raced too freely to do himself justice, and the first-time cheekpieces enlisted here should help keep his mind on the job.

15:25 Leopardstown – Ghostwriter @ 7/1

The feature race of the day is the Irish Champion Stakes, a Group 1 contest run over a mile and a quarter.

Economics has been all the rage in the market since following up his impressive Dante win with success in the Prix Guillaume d'Ornano last month and is clearly improving, but I don't think we have seen the best of Ghostwriter yet and he is preferred at the prices.

Unbeaten as a juvenile, Ghostwriter returned with a respectable fourth in the 2,000 Guineas and has improved for going beyond a mile, running well behind Derby winner City Of Troy in the Eclipse and the International.

The Eclipse form is working out very well, with runner-up Al Riffa landing a German Group 1 on his next start and fourth-placed See The Fire scoring in a Group 3, while he just couldn’t quicken up as effectively as City Of Troy when tracking that one at York.

There doesn’t seem to be anything of that calibre lurking in this and with a strong pace all but guaranteed, he should be able to settle a lot better and make a sustained challenge to deliver a deserved first success this year for Clive Cox.

16:00 Leopardstown – Trustyourinstinct @ 4/1

The final selection goes in the 1m4f Group 3, in which Trustyourinstinct is taken to register a first success in Pattern company.

After a spell hurdling, Joseph O’Brien’s four-year-old has been much improved since returning to the Flat, following a win at Gowran Park with two narrow defeats at this level over a mile and a quarter.

He was beaten just a neck in a Group 3 at the Curragh in June behind Jan Brueghel, who followed up in the Gordon Stakes at Glorious Goodwood and is near the top of the market for the St Leger at Doncaster, and lost nothing in defeat behind last year’s Leger winner Continuous last month.

He shapes as though the extra two furlongs won’t be a problem and the 3lb he receives from main market rival Klondike could prove decisive.

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.