A daughter of Galileo and a full sister to Bush Hill Stud’s Flying The Flag, Magical landed a gamble to provide Aidan O’Brien with a remarkable 1-2-3 in in the QIPCO Gr1 Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on day one of Longines Irish Champions Weekend on Saturday.
A Magical moment! (Pic – Twitter)
The well-backed favourite was perfectly positioned throughout under Ryan Moore to pounce coming into the straight and establish a race-winning move, though backers of Deirdre will wonder what might have happened had she enjoyed a clear run.
RTE reports that the first Japanese-trained horse to run in Ireland was caught in last place when the race developed and, pulled out by rider Oisin Murphy, flashed home to finish fourth.
However, the 11-10 favourite Magical still won readily by two and a quarter lengths.
Having finished second to Enable three times over the past 12 months, the mare was finally happy to meet a field that did not include that other star mare.
Magic Wand was second, Anthony Van Dyk third as O’Brien won his first Champion Stakes since 2011, but his domination was remarkable, as he also won three of the first four races.
