Horse racing tips: Poetic Flare to defeat St Mark's…

Horse racing tips: Poetic Flare to defeat St Mark's Basilica in Irish Champion Stakes

POETIC FLARE is taken to mark his first attempt at a mile and a quarter by beating three opponents for the Irish Champion Stakes (2.45) at Leopardstown today.

Jim Bolger’s son of Dawn Approach has been the very model of class and durability in 2021, landing Group 1 successes in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket in May and the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot the following month.

Poetic Flare, in addition three times second at the highest level, makes his debut beyond a mile on his eighth outing of the campaign.

Bolger believes the step up in distance could see his colt in an even better light and Kevin Manning’s mount can prove more than a match for rivals St Mark’s Basilica and Tarnawa.

St Mark's Basilica winning the 2021 Coral Eclipse at Sandown Park racecourse (PA)

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In Doncaster's Cazoo St Leger (3.35), OTTOMAN EMPEROR has the upwardly mobile profile to thwart hot favourite Hurricane Lane.

The oldest Classic eluded Johnny Murtagh during his career in the saddle, but the 51-year-old has a strong candidate to give him his first British Group 1 triumph as a trainer.

The son of Excelebration is on a steep upward curve - after landing a Cork maiden in April, Ottoman Emperor collected at Gowran Park and Navan before a victory in the Group 3 March Stakes at Glorious Goodwood in July.

Rising star Ben Coen's mount promises to stay the Leger distance and has plenty of progress up his sleeve for his bid to deliver at the top level.