Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh

Racing all over today, but clearly the top race is the irish 2,000 Guineas at 16.20 CET at the Curragh. To a certain extent this is a re-run of the Newmarket version 3 weeks ago, in which Kingman (John Gosden/ James Doyle) started a hot favourite and finished a half-length runner-up, with Shifting Power (Richard Hannon/ Richard Hughes) fourth and War Command (Aidan and Joseph O´Brien) further back. Despite that defeat - his first ever- Kingman looks a very smart prospect and we expect him to confirm the form, although neither Hannon nor O´Brien should be underestimated. O´Brien in particular has an unrivalled record in the Irish classics and has won this race 5 times in the last 6 years. He saddles 3 more runners today, but we assume that his son is sitting on the right one. A danger to all is Mustajeeb (Dermot Weld/ Pat Smullen) who certainly caught the eye last time when beating older horses in good style at Leopardstown.

However they fare here, we hope that Weld and Smullen can take the following Group Three over a mile for older fillies and mares at 16.55 with Big Break; she rather suprisingly failed to win last year, but they won´t have kept this sister to Famous Name in training without good reason and she can take full advantage of the 5 lks she receives here from the two penalised fillies Fiesolana (Willie McCreery/ Billy Lee) and the O´Brien´s Peace Burg.

The other group race, over 6 furlongs at 15.45, can go to Maarek (Evanna McCutcheon/ Declan McDonogh), back to form last time and very difficult to beat over this distance on soft ground. Slade Power (Eddie Lynam/ Wayne Lordan) and Darwin (A & J O´Brien) can follow him home.

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Blue Fragrance - I Am Beautiful - Alertness
2. Race: Cappella Sansevero - Coto - Sors
3. Race: Darwin - Maarek - Slade Power
4. Race: Mustajeeb - War Command - Shifting Power
5. Race: Fiesolana - Peace Burg - Wannabe Better
6. Race: John Constable - Fiscal Focus - Sherama
7. Race: Harley`s Harley - Woodsophiesmile - Dynamite Dixie