Economics emerges on top in absorbing Irish Champion Stakes to keep ceiling of ability an unknown

History will decide where the 2024 Irish Champion Stakes might ultimately rank in the pantheon of a Group 1 with a regal roll of honour but for now we can relish an encounter as absorbing as any of those that have gone before.

It also threw up the 'right' winner in Economics, who emerged with his reputation embellished for being as redoubtable as he was precocious before the €1.25 million contest. 

Put simply, the three-year-old, a Newbury maiden winner only in April, was the one horse who smacked of a high-class middle-distance prospect whose ceiling still hadn't been identified. That, happily, remains the case. 

The towering, flashy, white-faced chestnut needed to be brave, because, for all that Tom Marquand's canny tactical steer set things up nicely, they still needed to roll up their sleeves during a pulsating climax to this heavyweight skirmish. 

When the gloves came off in the straight, it looked for a moment as though William Haggas's runaway Dante winner might get swamped as Ryan Moore brought Auguste Rodin wide with an ominous challenge. Moore eked last year's winner – once again leaving behind a dismal King George showing – to the front inside the distance, and it's not often he will be beaten from there. 

Marquand and Economics in effect had to win the race twice, but they met that challenge handsomely. Marquand kept asking and Economics kept answering, finally getting back up to score by a neck. 

The Japanese raider Shin Emperor and Auguste Rodin's stablemate Los Angeles flashed home purposefully to complete their Arc preparations in style in third and fourth. 

For Economics' owner Sheikh Isa, who has been pivotal to the Kingdom of Bahrain's sponsorship of the Leopardstown showpiece, this was a dream result. They skipped the Derby for a less urgent route to the top, so it was a spectacular vindication of Haggas's judgement.

"He has proved to everyone now he's a proper horse," said the successful owner after Economics had justified 7-4 favouritism. "I've been waiting a while for a horse like him, and now we have one. He has beaten some of the best horses in the world and it's wonderful for the Kingdom of Bahrain."

Asked about the decision to bypass Epsom before taking the scenic route here via a relatively nondescript Deauville Group 2, he added: "There were discussions about the Derby but at the end of the day William sees the horse more than I do, and there is trust – there must be."

Haggas, fresh from Montassib's narrow Sprint Cup success, was winning the Irish Champion for the first time. He is a man of few words but you sensed this was a satisfying triumph. 

Economics and Tom Marquand return in triumph after winning the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes for owner Sheikh Isa (left)Credit: Patrick McCann

"It didn't look very nice but he got the job done," he said of Economics' gritty display. "It was a relief. I loved his head carriage in the last furlong, he really put his head down."

Haggas suggested the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot, for which the winner was cut to outright favourite at 6-4 (from 3) by Paddy Power, would be next. A step up in trip may have to wait until next year. 

Marquand, completing a quick big-race double after landing the Matron on Porta Fortuna, improvised here on a horse he had been holding up. 

O'Brien's 2022 winner Luxembourg set only modest fractions, and Moore was further back than might have been anticipated. Marquand seized the opportunity to lock him up early on, and then he did the same to Shin Emperor as they swung out of the back.

He made a deliberate attempt to get closer to the pace so that Economics wouldn't be caught flat-footed and they duly got first-run on their main rivals, which they needed because Economics took a while to hit full tilt. 

It was a fine ride by Marquand because dictating the terms of engagement against a Ballydoyle battalion on home turf is not easy.

"I kept changing plans but this horse must be a champion because he overcame plenty," Marquand said of his tactical ad-lib. "I just felt for the tempo of the race it wasn't the right place for us, so I changed around and went forward a bit more. He had to battle and he's tough."

Asked about being part of what proved to be an epic spectacle, he quipped: "I wasn't thinking that halfway round!"

At this level, it's not often the vanquished are happy to have merely played a role in a thriller, but there were positives among the placed horses. O'Brien and Moore both doffed their respective caps to Economics and expressed themselves very pleased with Auguste Rodin, who will now be trained for the Japan Cup. 

O'Brien and Dylan Browne McMonagle were also delighted with the way Los Angeles came home looking ahead to the Arc, as will Yoshito Yahagi have been with the nature of Shin Emperor's Longchamp sighter. 

For those, there should still be better days ahead, and the same is clearly true of Economics. He looks bang on the money.   

Read these next:

'Very special' Porta Fortuna all set for America as she completes a Group 1 hat-trick in the Matron Stakes 

'He didn't even run until May' - late bloomer Jan Brueghel flourishes under Levey to secure St Leger 1-2 for Ballydoyle 

'He's a speed horse' - drop back to a mile suits Diego Velazquez as he makes it three from three at Leopardstown 

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