Thoroughbred stars set to line up for Tattersalls Irish Guineas Festival at The Curragh
Poetic Flare, Lucky Vega, Love, Shale, Pretty Gorgeous, Champers Elysees, Search For A Song and Glen Shiel are among the leading contenders for this weekend
English 2000 Guineas winner Poetic Flare and Lucky Vega who finished third in the Newmarket contest are set to renew rivalry in the Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas taking place at the Curragh this Saturday. Fourteen entries remain in the 100th running of the Group 1 Classic following today’s entry and forfeit stage.
Other leading contenders in the €400,000 contest include the Joseph O’Brien Thunder Moon and a strong challenge from his father Aidan including Battleground, Van Gogh and Wembley. Trainer Kevin Prendergast, who has won the race twice with Awtaad and Northern Treasure, is set to be represented by Monaasib, while trained Joseph Murphy will look for his first classic winner with Agrimony.
La Barrosa trained by Charlie Appleby and The Rosstafarian trained by Hugo Palmer are the sole British trained entries.
Saturday’s top class programme also features the Group 2 Lanwades Stud Stakes with last years Group 1 Matron Stakes winner Champers Elysees among the eight entries, who also include Epona Plays, Thundering Nights and Valeria Messalina
The Archie Watson trained Glen Shiel, winner of the British Champions Sprint last year at Ascot, heads the fifteen entries for the Weatherbys Ireland Greenlands Stakes. The strong British trained team also includes Summerghand trained by David O’Meara, Last Empire trained by Kevin Ryan and the Charlie Hills trained Royal Commando. Sonaiyla, Make A Challenge and Speak In Colours are among the home trained team among the entries for the Group 2 sprint.
The GAIN Marble Hill Stakes also taking place on Day 1 of the Festival has attracted fourteen entries including Castle Star, recent winner of the GAIN First Flier Stakes, Cadamosto and The Entertainer trained by Aidan O’Brien and the Jim Bolger trained pair Celtic Times and Strapped.
There are 20 entries in the opening Tally Ho Stud IEBF Maiden, 28 in the Betway Sprint Fillies Handicap, 35 in the Betway Handicap and 32 in the Heed Your Hutch at Betway Handicap
Day 2 of the Festival on Sunday features some of the top fillies in Europe lining up in the Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas which has attracted 18 entries.
The O’Brien family will lead a very strong challenge with Joan of Arc, recent winner of the 1000 Guineas Trial, one of four entries trained by Aidan O’Brien, while sons Joseph, will be represented by Pretty Gorgeous winner of the Group 1 Fillies Mile last year and Donnacha, with last year’s Moyglare Stud Stakes winner Shale.
The Ken Condon trained Miss Amulet also features among the entries, while No Speak Alexander, Lovely Esteem and Fantasy Lady are other notable Irish trained runners. The Richard Fahey trained Fev Rover, third in the English 1000 Guineas, is the sole British trained entry in the €400,000 race.
Group 1 winners Love, Japan, Mogul, Search For A Song and Serpentine feature among the fifteen entries in the Tattersalls Gold Cup. The €300,000 Group 1 race has also attracted Broome, Cayenne Pepper and the much-travelled True Self winner of the Neom Turf Cup in Saudi Arabia earlier this year.
The Group 3 Heider Family Stables Gallinule Stakes has attracted twenty-four entries including Erzindjan, Flying Visit, Sir Lamorak, Taipan and recent Naas winner Snapraeterea. The race is a well-established trial for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby taking place later next month
There are 24 fillies entered in the opening Tally Ho Stud IEBF Maiden, 29 in the Betway Guineas Festival Handicap, 26 in the Betway IEBF Maiden, 29 in the Heed Your Hunch at Betway Handicap and 37 in the valuable IEBF Habitat Handicap
Latest Betting
From Betway, betting partner of the Tattersalls Irish Guineas Festival,
Chad Yeomans, PR Manager of Official Betting Partner Betway said:
“A fantastic set of entries at the five day stage for both the Tattersalls Irish 2000 and Irish 1000 Guineas. The first classic of the weekend, could see a large portion of the field from the English version reoppose each other and we make Newmarket third Lucky Vega our 2/1 favourite. He was a Group 1 winner at The Curragh as a two year old and was deemed unlucky by some at Newmarket.
“Aidan O’Brien has won the Fillies’ classic five time since 2011 and has another strong chance with Joan Of Arc, who is our 2/1 market leader for Sunday’s showpiece race. She won well last time out but does have a little to find on official ratings. Pretty Gorgeous, who is 9/4 second favourite, was well backed with us for Newmarket before a niggle ruled her out and we expect her to popular with the Betway punters on Sunday, too.”
Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas:
Lucky Vega 2/1, Poetic Flare 5/1, Wembley 5/1, La Barossa 6/1, Battleground 8/1
Monaassib 10/1, Thunder Moon 10/1, Van Gogh 12/1, Mac Swiney 14/1
The Rosstafarian 33/1,Agrimony 50/1,Emporio 50/1, Rebel Step 50/1, San Martino 66/1
Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas
Joan Of Arc 2/1, Pretty Gorgeous 9/4, Shale 5/1, Fev Rover 6/1, No Speak Alexander 9/1, Miss Amulet 10/1, Empress Josephine 20/1, Zaffy’s Pride 20/1, More Beautiful 25/1, Sense Of Style 25/1, Thinking Of You 25/1, Fantasy Lady 33/1, Belle Image 50/1
Lovely Esteem 50/1, Messidor 50/1, Friendly 66/1, Sweet Gardinia 66/1, Sziget 100/1
Entries links
Declared runners 10am, Thursday for Saturday and Friday for Sunday
Ground
Round Course: yielding to soft
Straight Course: yielding to soft, soft in places
Track - stand side track
Stalls in centre for all sprints
Forecast: scattered showers with more persistent rain towards the end of the week
Television Coverage
RTE 1: Sat from 2pm, Sunday from 1.50pm
ITV and Virgin Media: Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas
Racing TV: all races
Tipperary Crystal Virtual Style Competition
Bringing "Style back into Racing" - Tipperary Crystal are sponsoring the first Virtual Style Event of the Season which will take place on Saturday , The winning style entrant will win a €1,000 Online Tipperary Crystal Voucher plus a host of incredible prizes including a magnus of Taittinger champagne and tickets to the 2022 Tattersalls Irish Guineas Festival. Judges include Virgin Media Presenters and Top Irish Stylist Judy Gilroy and Lorna Weightman. See https://www.curragh.ie/what-to-wear-at-the-races