Bahrain Turf Club Announced as Irish Champion Stakes Sponsor

[Wandering Eyes]

The Irish Champion S., one of the premier races in the European programme, will be sponsored by the Bahrain Turf Club after Horse Racing Ireland and Leopardstown brokered a deal a month before the Group 1 was due to be run without a sponsor for the third successive season. 

The race was won by St Mark's Basilica (Fr) last season and by Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in 2020 but hadn't been sponsored since QIPCO's stopped supporting the Group 1 prize in 2019. 

However, the Bahrain Turf Club have committed to sponsoring the €1,000,000 showpiece for the next six years to the delight of Leopardstown boss Tim Husbands.

He said, “We are honoured to welcome such a prestigious and international brand, the Bahrain Turf Club, to support our flagship Flat race, the Irish Champion Stakes. To have this international support reinforces the importance of the Irish Champion Stakes in the Irish racing calendar.

“We would like to thank His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa for the generous sponsorship. We look forward to working with His Highness and the Bahrain Turf Club on one of the world's leading Flat races, The Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes.”

French Derby and Eclipse winner Vadeni (Fr) (Churchill {Ire}), trained in France by Jean-Claude Rouget, a winning trainer in 2016 with Almanzor (Fr), currently tops the betting.

Suzanne Eade, Chief Executive of Horse Racing Ireland, commented, “The Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes is a race that always delivers and next month's renewal, the first to be run under the sponsorship of the Bahrain Turf Club, looks a race to savour.

“I would like to thank His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa and the Bahrain Turf Club for this sponsorship. We are very aware of the desire The Kingdom of Bahrain has to grow their racing product and Bahrain has had a continued presence at our sales for many years now and also has a growing bloodstock interest in Ireland.”

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