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Dazed and confused: Shin Emperor slips to inexplicable Sixth in Irish Champion Stakes
Japanese raider Shin Emperor slumped to sixth place in the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes on Saturday (Sept. 13), a loss that left his team totally befuddled.
The JRA’s prized 4-year-old colt rode into Leopardstown high on both fitness and spirit but after the gun and off they went, he mysteriously fizzled to defeat more than seven lengths behind the winner, the great Delacroix.
Hope had risen for Shin Emperor, who in last year’s race made his overseas debut, coming in an impressive third.
Yet the son of Siyouni was not a shade of himself from a year ago, in stark contrast to the Aidan O’Brien-trained Delacroix who covered the 2,000 meters with authority in 2 minutes, 4.69 seconds under Christophe Soumillon, who more than admirably filled in for chief jockey Ryan Moore on this afternoon.
Shin Emperor’s esteemed trainer Yoshito Yahagi could not offer an explanation for the puzzling performance from his horse ridden by Ryusei Sakai, who has ridden him for all but four of his 12 starts.
“I’m at a complete loss for words,” Yahagi said. “Because I thought our horse was in better shape than last year, and Ryusei told me going into warmups and during warmups that he felt great.
“I have no idea what’s what. We had the perfect position during the trip, behind the pacemaker in second, third place.”
Despite the head-shaking showing, Yahagi said as things stand, Shin Emperor will still run in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamps on Oct. 5 per the original blueprint.
“At the moment, I have no intention of changing our plans but I’ll ultimately make that decision based on the fitness of our horse,” he said. “I am really sorry for everyone who backed us. We’ll try to do better next time.”
Shin Emperor started for the first time since April, when he finished seventh as the third choice in the Dubai Sheema Classic over 2,410m at Meydan.
On firm going in a field of eight, Sakai ushered his partner without any issues with Mount Kilimanjaro driving up the pace and Delacroix lurking at the back, waiting for his moment to pounce.
As the pack came home, Sakai gave Shin Emperor the nod to go - only for him to not respond as he usually does. Delaocroix, on the other hand, roared down the stretch along the outside railing behind some savvy riding by Soumillon to put three-quarters of a length on runner-up Anmaat.
It was Delacroix’s second Grade 1 victory and a phenomenal 13th Irish Champion Stakes triumph for O’Brien.
Just like Yahagi, Sakai was left searching for answers, hoping that he will find them by next month in time for the Arc.
“I thought the horse was incredibly fit and calm during the race. It really is disappointing because the only thing missing from him today was the result itself,” Sakai said of Shin Emperor who has three wins from his dozen starts.
“Everything went as we had expected - from the horse who set the pace and where we were when we traveled. But he just didn’t respond on the final straight for some reason.
“The going was even better than what we expected; it was certainly good enough for him to handle. The result is a real shame but if you look at his performance from a year ago, he is much better than what he showed today.
“We will definitely try to put it back together from hereon.”
Official result: Irish Champion Stakes
Please visit the following websites for more information.
Horse Racing Ireland
Leopardstown racecourse
Irish Champions Festival
