IRISH Champions Festival 2026 is littered with big questions and the answers promise to make for entertaining viewing over the coming two days at Leopardstown and the Curragh.

A Juddmonte International rematch between Item, Almaqam and Constitution River in the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes has all the ingredients to be a belting showdown, and we are bound to learn a considerable amount about the European two-year-old pecking order from a trio of juvenile Group 1s on the menu.