How Many Times Has Aidan O’Brien Won The Irish Champion Stakes?

Leopardstown racecourse gets set to stage one of its biggest meetings of the year this Saturday (14th Sept) – with the Irish Champion Stakes 2024 the big highlight.

The €700,000 race always attracts some of the best middle distance horses from around the world and it’s also a horse racing prize the Ballydoyle team have won many times. But just how many times has Aidan O’Brien landed the Irish Champion Stakes?

When Is The Irish Champion Stakes 2024?

📅Date: Saturday 14th September 2024
⌚Time: 3:25pm
🏇Racecourse: Leopardstown (1m 2f)
💰Winning Purse: €712,500
📺 TV: Racing TV

Aidan O’Brien Has Won The Irish Champion Stakes a Record 12 Times

No trainer in thr history of the Irish Champion Stakes has won the race more times than Aidan O’Brien.

The Ballydoyle maestro has mopped-up a staggering 12 successes over the years and it’s unlikely he’s finished yet.

Of those 12 wins in the race Dylan Thomas (2006 & 2007) and Magical (2019 & 2020) were his double winners.

While he’s taken the prize with other great equine stars over the years – including High Chaparral and So You Think.

O’Brien’s First Irish Champion Stakes Winner Was Giant’s Causeway in 2000

Giant’s Causeway was billed as one of the toughest racehorses in the modern era and it was this son of Storm Cat that got the Aidan O’Brien winning haul in the Irish Champion Stakes off and running (watch below).

Owned by John Magnier and Michael Tabor, Giant’s Causeway was as tough as they came and added the Irish Champion Stakes to his already impressive CV in 2000.

It was in fact to be Giant’s Causeways last ever win too, as despite running twice more after this Leopardstown win – he only managed close seconds in the QE II Stakes at Ascot and Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.

During his 13-race career Giant’s Causeway won nine times and finished in the first two in ALL his starts – winning a staggering £2,031,426 in total prize money in the process. Which would be worth even more in today’s cash climate.

Giant’s Causeway was ridden in all-bar-one of his career starts by top Irish jockey Mick Kinane, who is also the most successful rider in the race with seven wins.

The only other rider to get the leg-up on Giant’s Causeway was George Duffield, who guided him home in an epic battle with Kalanisi in the 2000 Coral-Eclipse at Sandown.

The Most Recent Aidan O’Brien Winner Was Auguste Rodin in 2023

It was only in 2023 that Aidan O’Brien gained his twelfth win in the Leopardstown race – which came with the Epsom Derby winner Auguste Rodin.

This 3 year-old saw off his stablemate Luxembourg by 1/2 a length (watch below) to give rider Ryan Moore his fifth win in the race and his third since 2021.

Auguste Rodin is also expected to be one of the 2024 Irish Champion Stakes runners as he looks to become only the third ever back-to-back winner of the race.

Aidan O’Brien Has Won The Last Five Irish Champion Stakes

With an impressive tally of 12 Irish Champion Stakes winners, Aidan O’Brien has made this top Group One race his own – with five of those successes all coming in the last five renewals.

O’Brien has been unstoppable in this contest since 2019 – winning every running (see his list of winners below).

All Of Aidan O’Brien’s Irish Champion Stakes Winners

Aidan O’Brien’s Irish Champion Stakes 2024 Runners

The final declarations for the Irish Champion Stakes 2024 runners will be out on Thursday 12th September.

Here are the possible Aidan O’Brien runners in the race.

Who Is The 2024 Irish Champion Stakes Favourite?

Despite Aidan O’Brien’s stranglehold on the Irish Champion Stakes over the years, the record-winning trainer might not have the 2024 favourite.

This is because the market leader with the best horse racing betting sites in the UK is the William Haggas-trained Economics.

The son of Night Of Thunder has impressed in winning his last three starts – including the Dante Stakes at York in May and last time out the Prix Guillaume d’ Ornano in France (watch below).

If running, Economics will be looking to give the Haggas yard their first win in this Group One. While the last UK-trained horse to take the prize was the John Gosden runner Roaring Lion in 2018.

Irish Champion Stakes Winners (Last 10 Years)