Ryusei Sakai is savouring a second tilt at the G1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday, with last year's third Shin Emperor (Siyouni) featuring among 12 horses standing their ground after Tuesday's confirmation stage.Japanese raider Shin Emperor, trained by Yoshito Yahagi, delighted connections in an early workout on Tuesday, with Sakai saying afterwards, “He worked this morning on the Curragh Racecourse with his partner horse and he felt very well, very comfortable. I was very happy with the gallop. He is a more mature and stronger horse now than last year, more experienced too. He looks great, very healthy and seems to have settled well into his new environment on the Curragh.”He added, “I learned a lot from the race at Leopardstown last year and I hope that experience can help us in the big race. He's a straightforward horse. He led and won [the G2 Neom Turf Cup] in Saudi Arabia earlier this year, or you can wait with him like we did here a year ago, so I think we will have options.”Set to line out against Shin Emperor in the Irish Champion is G1 Coral-Eclipse hero Delacroix. The son of Dubawi is one of five possible runners for Aidan O'Brien, along with Expanded (Wootton Bassett), Mount Kilimanjaro (Siyouni), Serengeti (Wootton Bassett) and Whirl (Wootton Bassett). Johnny Murtagh's improving three-year-old Zahrann (Night Of Thunder) and John Murphy's White Birch (Ulysses) also feature in the home team, while the Owen Burrows-trained Anmaat (Awtaad) is another leading contender in his search for a third Group 1 success.Saturday's Coolmore America 'Justify' Matron Stakes is the first of six Group 1s at the Irish Champions Festival, with Karl Burke's Fallen Angel (Too Darn Hot), runner-up to Porta Fortuna in the race last year, headlining the remaining 13 entries. Last seen winning the G1 Prix Rothschild at Deauville, Fallen Angel is set to clash again with runner-up January (Kingman), while Joe Murphy's G1 Coronation Stakes heroine Cercene (Australia) is sure to have her fair share of supporters, too.Day two of the Irish Champions Festival at the Curragh features the final Classic of the season, the G1 Comer Group International Irish St Leger. Five of the remaining 16 entries hail from Ballydoyle, including likely favourite Illinois (Galileo), while Joseph O'Brien will be trying to deny his father an eighth success in the race with his dual Group 1 winner Al Riffa (Wootton Bassett). The Ralph Beckett-trained Amiloc (Postponed) and Burke's Al Qareem (Awtaad) lead the potential British challenge.Meanwhile, Asfoora (Flying Artie) will become the first Australian-trained runner on the Flat in Ireland when she lines up in the G1 Bar One Racing Flying Five Stakes. Successful in last month's G1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York last month, she arrives into Ireland on Friday and will again be ridden by Oisin Murphy. A total of 20 horses remain in contention for the Flying Five, with Adrian Murray set to saddle two of the biggest dangers to Asfoora in Bucanero Fuerte (Wootton Bassett) and Arizona Blaze (Sergei Prokofiev).The juveniles also get their chance to shine in the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes for colts and the G1 Moyglare Stud Stakes for fillies. Aidan O'Brien's G2 Coventry Stakes winner and G1 Prix Morny runner-up Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) is likely to be a warm order for the National, with a pair of unbeaten colts from Britain, Charlie Appleby's Saba Desert (Dubawi) and Eve Johnson Houghton's Zavateri (Without Parole), featuring among his nine potential rivals.Gstaad's Prix Morny conqueror Venetian Sun (Starman) will also be in action on a star-studded card when she again takes on the might of Ballydoyle in the Moyglare. O'Brien is responsible for five of the other 11 entries, including Composing (Wootton Bassett), the unbeaten winner of the G2 Debutante Stakes, and G2 Airlie Stud Stakes scorer Beautify (Wootton Bassett).The post Shin Emperor Ready for Leopardstown Return, Irish Champions Festival Fields Taking Shape appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.