Today's Tips: Golden Horn can fend off Champion challengers at Leopardstown

Today’s QIPCO Champion Stakes at Leopardstown has the potential to be as good a flat race as we’ve seen in this country for many a year and, in what should be a tight affair, Golden Horn is narrowly preferred to Free Eagle and Gleneagles.

The selection was an easy winner of the Epsom Derby, and arguably more impressive when readily accounting for The Grey Gatsby in an exciting renewal of the Eclipse, at Sandown. If we can safely assume the ground was the reason for his shock defeat at the hooves of Arabian Queen, in the Juddmonte International, he should prove very hard to beat here.

The ten-furlong trip on decent ground would appear to be his optimum and he can fend off the challenge of top-class older horse Free Eagle, and Gleneagles, who is trying the trip for the first time.