Delacroix put in a super performance to run out a dominant winner of the Group 1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday.
It was a 13th success in the race for trainer Aidan O'Brien, Christophe Soumillon doing the steering in the absence of Ryan Moore aboard the well-backed 2/1 favourite.
Stablemate Mount Kilimanjaro cut out the running under Ronan Whelan with Royal Champion racing in his slipstream, but early in the straight Soumillon made a striking move to quickly take up the running.
The Belgian jockey made a beeline for the stands' rail and he was not for catching, Delacroix kept up to his work to run out a three-quarter length winner from Anmaat, With Royal Champion third.
It was a second Group 1 success of the season for the son of Dubawi, following on from his Coral-Eclipse victory, and he's now 4/1 from 12s to win the Champion Stakes at Ascot with Paddy Power.
If he goes to British Champions Day in October he could meet Ombudsman for the third time this season, having beaten him at Sandown and lost to him in the Juddmonte International at York.
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O'Brien said: “He’s some horse to quicken isn’t he. We saw the same at Sandown, he’s so quick and we knew York was a sprint down the straight really.
"York was only an exercise canter really.
“This was an evenly run race. He was very confident on him and when he said go, he just took off. Two strides and it was over, at one stage he wasn’t even in the picture, next thing he’s gone.
“If he was to run again, he has all the options really, but I don’t know, the lads can do anything they want with him.
"He could go back to a mile, all the things are open but I’m afraid to say it in case the lads say that’s it and it might be."
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