SOME of the best racehorses in the world have been entered for the Group 1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on September 13th but arguably the racing public has been more intrigued by the entry given to Constitution Hill for the Comer Group International Irish St Leger at the Curragh the following day.

Japanese superstar Forever Young, 2025 world champion Calandagan, and reigning Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe hero Daryz are among the contenders for the €1.25 million Irish Champion Stakes. Forever Young is the second highest stakes earner of all time with two Saudi Cups either side of a Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar last year.

The first dirt-surface horse to be crowned Japan’s Horse of the Year, he is trained by Yoshito Yahagi who may return with Shin Emperor, third in the big race at Leopardstown in 2024 and, like Forever Young, owned by Susumu Fujita.

Calandagan topped the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for 2025 with a rating of 130 after four successive Group 1s, culminating with a memorable Japan Cup victory, the first by a foreign runner for 20 years. Trained by Francis-Henri Graffard, he has since landed the Group 1 Longines Dubai Sheema Classic.

Stable companion Daryz, also owned by the Aga Khan Studs, has already added two more Group 1 wins this season to his 2025 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe victory. He lies joint-second in the most recent global rankings published earlier this month.

There are 18 Group 1 winners among the 48 entries for the Champion Stakes, including Ombudsman who won at Sandown this week, and last Sunday’s Tattersalls Gold Cup winner Almaqam.

Irish St Leger

The €500,0000 Irish St Leger has long been touted as an ideal target for Constitution Hill, the former Champion Hurdle winner who has been reinvented as a potentially classy stayer on the flat this year. Following three falls in his final four starts over flights, the nine-year-old has recorded comfortable wins in minor flat events at Southwell and Kempton.

His trainer Nicky Henderson has indicated that the gelding will avoid fast ground during the summer and be aimed at good flat races in the autumn.

Potential opponents for him at the Curragh could include last year’s winner Al Riffa, Scandinavia, unbeaten in his last five starts, including the St Leger at Doncaster, Willie Mullins’ Breeders’ Cup Turf champion Ethical Diamond and Jan Breughel, highest-rated of the field on a mark of 125.

Caballo De Mar, trained by George Scott in Newmarket and a Group 1 winner in Paris last week, is another notable entry among the 63 engaged.