Aidan O'Brien landed a first Autumn Stakes (G3) Oct. 12 when Delacroix battled home in the one-mile contest under Ryan Moore to set up a possible tilt at the Oct. 25 Futurity Trophy Stakes (G1) at Doncaster.
In the early stages of the six-runner contest Moore had the 15-8 favorite on the shoulder of early leader Wolf of Badenoch, who came over to the stands' rail in search of fresher ground.
After being set alight entering the dip, Delacroix showed a pleasing change of gear to master Stanhope Gardens and was not stopping at the finish when scoring by a neck.
Part-owner Derrick Smith was celebrating an 80th birthday and his son Paul said: "Delacroix is a lovely horse and Ryan said he won with a bit in hand. With his pedigree there's no reason why he can't make up into a nice middle-distance prospect for next year."
Delacroix, by Dubawi, earned his first group victory and now owns a 2-2-0 record in four starts. The 2-year-old is the the last of four foals out of 2015-16 Eclipse champion grass mare Tepin, whose death was announced Oct. 5 by O'Brien.
Tepin has now produced two group winners from two foals to race, both for the Coolmore ownership group which purchased her for $8 million in 2017 at Fasig-Tipton's The November Sale. Her 2021 Galileo filly, Grateful, won the Oct. 5 Prix de Royallieu (G1) after previously taking the Stanerra Stakes (G3) July 10.
