Alamshar's rivals watch the weather

The cast list for the race of the season could lose at least one star attraction following the news that connections of Falbrav and High Chaparral are keeping a close eye on the weather ahead of their clash with Alamshar in Saturday's Ireland The Food Island Champion Stakes.

Conditions at Leopardstown remain fast after a largely dry August, and Aidan O'Brien has hinted that last year's Derby winner High Chaparral could be a doubtful runner if the forecast of another settled week proves accurate.

By contrast, Luca Cumani is anxious to see conditions remain as firm as possible for Falbrav, who won his third Group 1 contest of the season in the International Stakes at York two weeks ago.

He said: "He worked nicely on Saturday morning and the intention is to run at Leopardstown if the ground remains on the fast side."

Johnny Murtagh has taken the racing world by surprise by revealing that he could return from a break taken to get his weight in check in order to ride Alamshar.

However, his weighing room colleague Jimmy Fortune faces a lay-off of his own after collapsing in agony with back trouble at the Curragh yesterday.

Fortune had to be flown home on a spinal stretcher and was visited in Salisbury Hospital by his wife Jan today as he awaited the results of a scan on the injury.

Fortune's agent Tony Hind said: "Something in his lower back has been troubling him for the last couple of weeks and it's just gone. We hope it's nothing serious, but not even the surgeons seem to know what it is."

Latest Irish Champion Stakes betting (Cashmans): 11-10 Alamshar, 3 Falbrav, 7-2 High Chaparral, 10 bar.