The Irish Guineas festival gets underway on Friday evening with a competitive 8-race card that starts at 4:50pm. As well as the feature, our racing experts have looked through the rest of the card and come up with a couple of selections to hopefully get the weekend off to a winning start.
The Curragh: Day One
6:00 DNG Spring Fillies Premier Handicap
The most obvious starting point for this race is the top weight Impact Warrior. She won on debut at Roscommon last August and is probably best forgiven her 2nd placed effort in the Group 3 1,000 Guineas Trial where she looked in need of the run and wasn’t suited by the heavy ground. She made a much better fist of things at Killarney last time, powering clear at the 2-furlong pole before tiring in the closing stages to just be headed in the final strides. She clearly hit the front too soon, but the first 2 pulled a long way clear and that run would suggest her opening handicap mark of 92 is very fair.
Impact Warrior is likely to run her race, but with 9-12 on her back this won’t be easy and giving away 6lbs to SNOWCAPPED may prove a difficult task. Trained by Jessica Harrington, she has already won twice this season at Gowran Park and then over 7-furlongs here at the start of the month. Despite dwelling at the start, she came with a sustained run to win by over 3-lengths last time on her handicap debut. She has been raised 11lbs for that win, but she won in the manner of a horse with a lot more to come. The time figure of 91 that she recorded when winning here 3-weeks ago is the highest in this field and with the race likely to be run to suit, she looks to be the most likely winner.
6:30 Live Music at McDonnells Bar Newbridge Irish EBF Maiden
With a €630,000 price tag, Beyond the Steps needs to be taken seriously and any early market support should be noted, but the fact that he wears a tongue tie for his debut is ringing a few alarm bells and he could be a horse to watch on debut. Space Age and The Franchise failed to build on their debut efforts and could be prospects for handicaps later in the year, so this race really ought to go to SUBZERO.
Trained by Aidan O’Brien, he was 4th on debut at Gowran Park last August and built on that effort when 2nd in a Leopardstown maiden on his comeback at the start of this month. Having been rushed forwards at the start, he paid for those exertions in the closing stages, but the winner of the race, Sharlouk, placed in Listed company on his next start and the pair pulled 4-lengths clear of the rest. His dam won the Albany Stakes as a Juvenile and although as a son of Galileo he should improve for the step up in trip at some point, he has shown enough speed to suggest he can win over 7-furlongs first. He is the likely pace angle in the race and with his stamina assured, he could be hard to pass if he gets to the lead.
8:00 Irish Stallion Farms EBF “Habitat” Premier Handicap
This race has a tendency to throw up a decent horse from time to time with the likes of Creggs Pipes, Saltonstall and Visualisation on its recent winning roster. This year’s renewal is as competitive as ever, but if there is a potential pattern class performer in here then it is surely the rapidly improving DANDYVILLE. Trained by Natalia Lupini, he has won his last 3 starts and returned from his winter to break to win a competitive handicap at Naas last month with any amount in hand. He usually front runs and that could suit here as he should be clear of any trouble in running and the drying ground ought to make him hard to catch. He recorded a time figure of 106 when winning at Naas despite the race being run at a testing gallop and if he repeats that effort, he could prove to be very hard to pass.
Betting Irish 1000 Guineas – NRNB – 28th May 2023 -Odds Curragh | Novibet
The Curragh: Day One 26/05/2023 – Top Picks
