CAN Auguste Rodin come back from the brink again? Is King Of Steel going to reign in Dublin and show he is a Group 1 colt? Will Nashwa show all her class and join star fillies like Magical, Snow Fairy and The Fugue? Is Alflaila just another Shadwell gem to brighten up? Could Onesto go one better and strike for France? Or are we sleeping on last year’s winner Luxembourg?

It’s an Irish Champion Stakes (3.20) with lots of questions. Indeed, you could do your best Brian Glesson impression on the Luas out to Sandyford today, asking each racegoer what they’re backing in the big one, and the variance would be high. It’s that type of race: puzzling and perplexing, but interesting and intriguing in turn.

You have to start with Auguste Rodin. How could you back him after Ascot? It’s a legitimate question, but we asked something similar after the Guineas. Fool us twice Aidan, it’ll be shame on us. But the market wasn’t fooled for the Derby and the signs last night was that the belief in O’Brien’s ability to turn things around again has unwavered.

Kevin Stott thinks King Of Steel should be favourite. He told us so on our Irish Champions Festival preview podcast. The key for connections is a return to 10 furlongs. They were delighted with the way he hung tough in the King George, but felt he just didn’t stay on his first test at a fast run mile and a half. Ten furlongs could be perfect.

Nashwa was a slightly surprising late addition to the race, but a pleasant surprise. She is a three-time Group 1 winner, a 10-furlong specialist and coming off a career best when finishing second to Moshtahdaf at York.

That Shadwell-owned colt would be a short price here but instead the blue and white rely on Alflaila, supplemented at a cost of €75,000 on Tuesday. He is progressive, now a winner of his previous four races and he looked good on his comeback at York.

Onesto has the Frankie factor and last year’s second teed himself up nicely for this with a typical French preperation, running a creditable fourth to Inspiral over a trip that may well have been tricky in the Jacques le Marois.

His conqueror from last year, Luxembourg, has a bit to prove, but arguably not as much as he did coming here last year, off the back of a testing season physically, yet he was available at double figures last night.

In contrast, the Matron Stakes (2.45) really does seem simple. Evens. You’re either with Dermot Weld’s Tahiyra or you’re not. The suggestion is that the neutral is very much with her, purely down to the fact that she has the highest propensity for a really top class performance.

Her two Group 1 wins this season have been impressive through her ability to handle sticky spots. She has won ugly. Today she could win beautifully because with both Just Beautiful and Zarinsk involved, the pace should be hot and that allows the dazzlers to dazzle. Exactly what you want on a weekend like this.