Meeting Review: Curragh Guineas Weekend

Positives: Captain Cole won a hot 50-80 handicap over 1m4f on Saturday and with all the right horses following him home the form looks solid. He goes up 8lbs to 65 for this but it will hardly be enough to anchor him and Peter Casey is certainly capable of getting his handicappers to run up sequences – Cool Touch and Rocky’s Choice spring to mind. The 1m Premier Handicap had only 14 runners and wasn’t well-contested for the prize money but the third Tis Mighty [WON 16/1 - Curragh, 31/8] was very unlucky and had to circle the field before staying on well up the middle of the track. The fourth Settigano got the gap she wanted about two furlongs out and that cost her at least 4ls which was the difference between losing and winning impressively. Some of last year’s form suggests she’s very well-treated off 85 and this performance confirmed that the mare is back in good heart. A return trip to this course (career form figures at the Curragh read:21203) for Derby weekend should pay dividends. Tommy Stack has a good record with his juveniles here and Sugar Free [WON 4/6 - Tipperary, 7/8] suggested she won’t be long about winning when claiming third what is traditionally a very strong juvenile maiden – previous winners included Saoirse Abu, George Washington and Oratorio. The daughter of Much Faster didn’t get much luck when meeting trouble over a furlong down but stayed on well to line. What does Duke Of Marmalade [WON Evens - Ascot, 18/6] [ WON 4/6 - Ascot, 26/7] [WON 4/6 - Newmarket, 23/8] have to do to get some respect? The tough four-year-old ran out a game winner of the Tattersalls Gold Cup on Sunday to land his second Group 1 of the season, out-battling dual 1,000 Guineas winner Finsceal Beo in the process. This race has been the best trial for the King George in recent years – the likes of Dylan Thomas, Hurricane Run and Azamour have all prepped for the big July event here – and while the Duke may be vulnerable over 10f in the Prince Of Wales, there’s no horse I’d rather back for the 12f race at present. Quotes of 12/1 are massive.

Negatives: John Oxx couldn’t have been anymore downbeat about the prospects of Arch Swing prior to the filly’s run in the Ridgewood Pearl on Saturday and his pessimism over chances was well-founded as she could only manage a well-beaten fourth. This was hugely disappointing as the 4yo had bags in hand on official ratings and had won first time out in the last 2 seasons and one would have to wonder where she goes from here. When Oxx keeps an older Aga Khan horse in training it’s worth noting but his success rate with older runners in other colours is nothing like as good and she’s one to swerve at present. Westphalia didn’t have the run of the race in the 6f maiden won by Intense Focus but I wouldn’t be rushing to support the Ballydoyle colt to reverse the form next time as his head carriage looked far from convincing. Perhaps it was only greenness but I’ll remain sceptical until proven otherwise. Tuscan Evening is a dog par excellence and managed to follow up her defeat by Mon Zamin (beaten out the gate off 84 in handicap on Sunday) with a fourth place finish in the 1,000 Guineas. She hung away her chance up the straight and was demoted from second and couldn’t be trusted to win even a weak maiden.

Pointers: Astronomer Royal supplied a minor shock in winning the Greenlands and that victory brought his record on his second start of the season to:111. Given his past record, there’s every chance he won’t hold his form for long but this was a huge run under a Group 1 penalty and odds of 20/1 for the Golden Jubilee look big. The 4yo followed up his French Guineas win last term with a decent show in the St. James’ Palace (finished third) and surely has a much better chance at Ascot than his stablemate US Ranger, a talking horse that has never even won a group race yet trades at half Astronomer Royal’s odds. Mooretown Lady isn’t far behind Tuscan Evening in the dog stakes but she’s very reliable when granted her ideal conditions and she loves racing up the Curragh on decent ground. Her record here on yielding or faster reads:22334226 and is always a place-pot banker. A pair of mares-in-foal triumphed over the weekend in Grecian Dancer and Subtle Shimmer and surely it’s time this significant information was relayed to punters. The former was particularly impressive in landing the Ridgewood Pearl by 5ls, leaving her all her previous form well behind. Charles O’Brien suggested she’s likely to be retired after his but the 5yo would be very hard to beat, whatever the company, should she go for one last hurrah.