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Ballysax Stakes

Flat horse race in Ireland

Summary

Flat horse race in Ireland

Field	Value
class	Group 3
horse race	Ballysax Stakes
location	Leopardstown
County Dublin, Ireland
race type	Flat / Thoroughbred
website	Leopardstown
distance	1m 2f (2,012 metres)
surface	Turf
track	Left-handed
qualification	Three-year-olds
weight	9 st 5 lb
Allowances
3 lb for fillies
Penalties
5 lb for G1 / G2 winners
3 lb for G3 winners
purse	€50,000 (2021)
1st: €29,500

County Dublin, Ireland Allowances 3 lb for fillies Penalties 5 lb for G1 / G2 winners 3 lb for G3 winners 1st: €29,500 |}

The Ballysax Stakes is a Group 3 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs (2,012 metres) at Leopardstown in April.

History

The event was formerly held at the Curragh, and it used to be classed at Listed level. It was transferred to Leopardstown in 1993, and promoted to Group 3 status in 2003. The 2014 running was held at Navan as the normal Leopardstown fixture was judged to be too early in the season to serve as a trial race for the European classics.

The Ballysax Stakes is currently run in memory of Patrick W. McGrath (died 2001). McGrath served as chairman of the Racing Board (a precursor of Horse Racing Ireland), which purchased Leopardstown Racecourse in 1967. The race serves as trial race for various European classics and the most recent winner to go on to a classic victory was Harzand, winner of the Epsom Derby in 2016.

Records

Leading jockey since 1986 (6 wins):

Michael Kinane – Cheering News (1990), Humbel (1995), Casey Tibbs (1997), Cupid (1999), Galileo (2001), High Chaparral (2002)

Leading trainer since 1986 (12 wins):

Aidan O'Brien – Cupid (1999), Galileo (2001), High Chaparral (2002), Balestrini (2003), Yeats (2004), Fame and Glory (2009), Battle of Marengo (2013), Nelson (2018), Broome (2019), Nobel Prize (2020), Bolshoi Ballet (2021), Delacroix (2025)

Winners since 1986

Year	Winner	Jockey	Trainer	Time
1986	Imperial Falcon	Pat Eddery	Vincent O'Brien	2:18.30
1987	Ancient Times	Cash Asmussen	Vincent O'Brien	2:10.80
1988	Saxon Cottage	Ron Quinton	John Oxx	2:16.40
1989	Upward Trend	Christy Roche	Jim Bolger	2:19.10
1990	Cheering News	Michael Kinane	Dermot Weld	2:08.60
1991	Jet Ski Lady	Christy Roche	Jim Bolger	2:11.90
1992	Ebaziya	Johnny Murtagh	John Oxx	2:21.50
1993	Shandon Lake	Kevin Manning	Jim Bolger	2:12.20
1994	Cajarian	Johnny Murtagh	John Oxx	2:12.30
1995	Humbel	Michael Kinane	Dermot Weld	2:13.80
1996	Key Change	Dermot Hogan	John Oxx	2:14.20
1997	Casey Tibbs	Michael Kinane	Dermot Weld	2:06.40
1998	Aislo	Fran Berry	Declan Gillespie	2:24.20
1999	Cupid	Michael Kinane	Aidan O'Brien	2:07.50
2000	Grand Finale	Pat Smullen	Dermot Weld	2:19.70
2001	Galileo	Michael Kinane	Aidan O'Brien	2:20.10
2002	High Chaparral	Michael Kinane	Aidan O'Brien	2:05.90
2003	Balestrini	Tom Queally	Aidan O'Brien	2:05.90
2004	Yeats	Jamie Spencer	Aidan O'Brien	2:23.40
2005	Bobs Pride	Pat Smullen	Dermot Weld	2:18.50
2006	Rhythm'n Roots	Kevin Manning	Jim Bolger	2:05.90
2007	Mores Wells	Declan McDonogh	Kevin Prendergast	2:05.50
2008	Moiqen	Declan McDonogh	Kevin Prendergast	2:13.66
2009	Fame and Glory	Johnny Murtagh	Aidan O'Brien	2:07.49
2010	Puncher Clynch	Kevin Manning	Jim Bolger	2:08.16
2011	Banimpire	Kevin Manning	Jim Bolger	2:04.73
2012	Light Heavy	Kevin Manning	Jim Bolger	2:08.04
2013	Battle of Marengo	Joseph O'Brien	Aidan O'Brien	2:16.58
2014	Fascinating Rock	Pat Smullen	Dermot Weld	2:16.89
2015	Success Days	Shane Foley	Ken Condon	2:23.87
2016	Harzand	Pat Smullen	Dermot Weld	2:19.11
2017	Rekindling	Wayne Lordan	Joseph O'Brien	2:08.88
2018	Nelson	Donnacha O'Brien	Aidan O'Brien	2:26.58
2019	Broome	Ryan Moore	Aidan O'Brien	2:12.61
2020	Nobel Prize	Killian Hennessy	Aidan O'Brien	2:16.91
2021	Bolshoi Ballet	Ryan Moore	Aidan O'Brien	2:11.61
2022	Piz Badile	Gavin Ryan	Donnacha O'Brien	2:09.80
2023	White Birch	Shane Foley	JJ Murphy	2:19.95
2024	Dallas Star	Seamie Heffernan	Adrian Murray	2:23.39
2025	Delacroix	Ryan Moore	Aidan O'Brien	2:06.15

References

Paris-Turf:
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Racing Post:
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galopp-sieger.de – Ballysax Stakes.
horseracingintfed.com – International Federation of Horseracing Authorities – Ballysax Stakes (2019).
pedigreequery.com – Ballysax Stakes – Leopardstown.

References

O'Connor, Brian. (8 April 2014). "Ballysax shifts to Navan for renewal". Irish Times.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

flat-horse-races-for-three-year-olds leopardstown-racecourse flat-races-in-ireland

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