With Ireland's first Classic of the season taking place at the Curragh tomorrow we take a look at how things could pan out...
For the second year in a row, Irish maestro Aidan O'Brien comes into Irish Guineas weekend without a Classic win already under his belt. Triple-handed in the contest, O'Brien's team is headed by course and distance winner Paddington who continues to improve with each run. The Siyouni colt ended his juvenile campaign with a victory in a twenty-runner seven-furlong maiden at the track and was an impressive winner of a Naas handicap on seasonal reappearance.
O'Brien has taken things slowly with Paddington and was rewarded with a success in the Listed Tetrarch Stakes, where the colt was more impressive than the one-and-a-half length winning distance suggests. His only disappointment has come on good ground at Ascot on debut, which would be a small concern as he faces similar conditions at the Curragh.
Stable-mates Age Of Kings and Cairo are currently 25/1 and 14/1 for the Irish Classic. Age Of Kings makes his seasonal reappearance and breeding would suggest a longer distance would suit him better whilst Cairo needs to bounce back after a disappointing run in the Group 2 UAE Derby at Meydan.
Hi Royal and Royal Scotsman represent the 2000 Guineas form, having finished second and third respectively behind Chaldean on the Rowley Mile. Oisin Murphy's mount Hi Royal started 125/1 for the Newmarket Classic and looked likely to cause an upset in the final stages before hanging left-handed and finishing one-and-three-quarter lengths behind Chaldean in second.
Trainer Kevin Ryan has expressed some concerns about the ground, saying:
"His pedigree suggests he's a miler, but I think he'd stay 10 furlongs later in the year. We're hopeful, but if it rains, I'd be happier. It never gets too fast over there, though."
Royal Scotsman is a consistent performer at the top level and was supplemented into the Irish 2000 Guineas after his strong third in the Newmarket equivalent, despite racing keenly in the early stages. Trainer Oliver Coal is pleased with the son of Gleneagles and said:
"He's in great form, he left for Ireland on Thursday night and arrived Friday morning and has eaten up, so we couldn't be happier with him.
"To do what he did at Newmarket, to be keen and pull for four furlongs and then finish shows he's pretty good.
"He broke the track record in the Richmond at Goodwood, and he was in the second fastest ever Dewhurst – his sectionals were amazing after the first furlong in the Dewhurst. He is a very, very good horse, everything just needs to go right for him. We like to think we have a live contender."
Galeron and Charyn finished fourth and fifth respectively in the 2000 Guineas and will be attempting to finish in the placings for UK-based trainers Charlie Hills and Roger Varian.
WIN: PADDINGTON
PLACE: ROYAL SCOTSMAN
