Galileo, Fantastic Light to Clash Again

It's round two for Galileo and Fantastic Light when they clash in Saturday's Ireland The Food Island Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown, where there will be more than the £825,000 prize money at stake.

Victory in leg five of the Emirates World Series for Aidan O'Brien's unbeaten Galileo would put him clear in the Series and in a winning position, while a success for Godolphin's Fantastic Light would also put him in a strong position to lift the Series and the $1 million prize for the second year.

Both could clash again in the ninth leg, the Breeders' Cup Classic, and the retirement of Point Given has made their task of picking up points at Belmont Park next month considerably easier.

But Galileo's Coolmore team will want to get Saturday out of the way first and, on the face of it, their colt has no easy task in his rematch with Fantastic Light.

The Godolphin colt has a five-pound weight advantage for the two lengths he was beaten in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes, and his record suggests that the drop back to 10 furlongs will be in his favor.

On the other hand, trainer Aidan O'Brien is adamant that Galileo is better at the shorter trip. As the plan is to drop him back to a mile in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes later this month, his team must be confident of his speed.