Irish Champions Weekend: essential information for the sublime two-day festival

Longines Irish Champions Weekend takes place this Saturday and Sunday. The Leopardstown race card is highlighted by the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes. On Sunday the Curragh stages an eight-race card with four top-level events. Day one starts at 12.40 with the €100,000 Ballylinch Stud Irish EBF Ingabelle Stake.

Irish Champions Weekend is worth €4.15 million this year. It's the pinnacle of the Flat season in Ireland. Aidan O'Brien, Joseph O',Brien and Jim Bolger are among the top trainers. Colin Keane and Ryan Moore are leading riders. St Mark's Basilica, Tarnawa and Poetic Flare could have a great race on Saturday.

The two-day festival is taking place at the Covid-19 track. The 4,000-strong crowd allowed each day will be the biggest at an Irish racecourse since the lockdown began last year. Tickets went on sale last Friday. A limited number of additional tickets will go on offer on Monday at 11am. Racing TV will show every race live, while RTE will broadcast some of the highlights.

The Irish Champion Stakes and Irish St Leger are the highlights of the two-day festival. The former is the most valuable contest of this weekend, worth €1 million. Sunday's Comer Group International Irish STL has a prize fund of €500,000.

The Coolmore America 'Justify' Matron Stakes is the second biggest race on day one at the Dublin track. Aidan O'Brien is considering running Classic winners Mother Earth and Empress Josephine against each other in the €300,000 event. Breeders' Cup winner Glass Slippers is on course to repeat her success in Derrinstown Stud Flying Five Stake on Sunday. The Moyglare Stud Staking and Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakers are expected to unearth Classic contenders for 2022.

Longines Irish Champions Weekend is taking place over two days.