With just a few days left to go before one of the highlights of the Irish horseracing calendar gets underway, there’s not much certainty over who is likely to walk away with the big prize in the Irish 1,000 Guineas at Curragh. At the moment, it looks like there are three frontrunners with the rest of the field pretty hard to separate.
The other horse expected to jostle for first place is My Titania, who is presently joint-favourite to win the 1,000 Guineas. The filly recently suffered a setback [1] in her preparations for the big race – a dirty scope ruled her out of the Newmarket Classic earlier this month. However, her camp is currently in high spirits, with trainer John Oxx talking up her form this week.
Across the board
According to Ladbrokes [2], Lightning Thunder is the 3/1 favourite alongside My Titania, although the focus of trainer Olly Stevens is on the 1,000 Guineas races was more concentrated on England’s event. Stevens also has Lightning Thunder competing in the French race, although victory in Curragh could help to keep her momentum going at least.
Best of the rest?
Another horse expected to perform well at Curragh, Kyoshi, has pulled out due to injury [3]. As a result, the trio of Lightning Thunder, My Titania and Rizeena are likely to go unchallenged if they’re all true to form. Nevertheless, there are a few coming into the 1,000 Guineas with some kind of form behind them; not least the 8/1 shot Palace.
Palace came second in the Derrinstown Stud 1,000 Guineas Trial in Leopardstown earlier this month, while a win back in April at Navan is encouraging, but she is among stiffer competition. Tested, who is 9/1 at the time of writing, has won two from two, with her most recent win coming back on May 4th at Gowran Park.
Vote Often is another member of the chasing pack who has good form behind them, with her last victory coming at Curragh nearly two months ago in a Group 3 race. Her downtime might end up being costly, with the others having raced more recently.
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[1] http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse-racing/my-titania-all-set-for-irish-1-000-guineas/1660069/top/#newsArchiveTabs=last7DaysNews
[2] http://sports.ladbrokes.com/en-ie/Navigation?byocList=r210005074|&evListFilter=218849009|
[3] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/racing/article-2632018/Kiyoshi-misses-Irish-1-000-Guineas-injury-switches-focus-Royal-Ascot.html