Delacroix took another step forward in his career as he landed his first Black Type race when striking in the eight-furlong G3 Autumn Stakes, giving his sire Dubawi, a second Group winner on the day at Newmarket’s Future Champion's Festival, on Saturday, 12 October.
Trained by Aidan O’Brien, the juvenile colt tracked the leader in second at a steady pace, he was asked to quicken with three furlongs to run, soon after he and Stanhope Gardens (Ghaiyyath) broke away from the rest of the field and were head-to-head going into the final furlong but Delacroix outbattled Stanhope Gardens, getting his head in front in the closing stages to prevail by a neck.
He has now won twice from four starts and was runner-up in the G2 Champions Juvenile Stakes at Leopardstown last month.
Bred in Ireland by the Tepin Sydicate, Delacroix is a half-brother to G1 Prix de Royallieu winner, Grateful. They are out of the Champion mare, Tepin (Bernstein), who was multiple G1-winner in America, amongst her victories were the Breeders’ Cup Mile, Woodbine Mile, Just a Game Stakes and First Lady Stakes, to name a few. She is a half-sister to Group victor, Vy Jack.
Delacroix became Dubawi’s twentieth individual Group winner this year. Four have struck at the highest level – Rebel’s Romance, who has won three G1 races this year, Notable Speech, Ezeliya and Master of the Seas. Earlier in the Lead Artist landed his second Group win as he took the G3 Darley Stakes.
