Khalid Abdullah's unbeaten Siskin (First Defence) will have 10 rivals to contend with in Friday evening's €250,000 G1 Irish 2000 Guineas at The Curragh after the draw was made on Wednesday. Successful in the G2 Railway S. and G1 Phoenix S. over six furlongs at the track last summer, the homebred is nevertheless on a retrieval mission having been taken out at the start of the G1 Middle Park S. at Newmarket when becoming upset in the stalls. Provided there is no repeat of that, he has a favourable draw in two with the rail being greatly favoured 12 months ago as Phoenix of Spain (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) bounced out and dominated. Forecast as the favourite at the moment, the bay has no fewer than six Ballydoyle runners to keep him occupied with four of them occupying the next four places in the betting.
One of the Rosegreen contingent Royal Lytham (Fr) (Gleneagles {Ire}) has been fitted with the blinkers that dramatically improved Tuesday's G3 Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial winner Cormorant (Ire) (Kingman {GB}). Having won Newmarket's G2 July S., the bay was beaten less than a length by Siskin and his re-opposing stablemate and 'TDN Rising Star' Monarch of Egypt (American Pharoah) in the Phoenix and will be ridden by Emmet McNamara, with Declan McDonogh on Monarch of Egypt. Wayne Lordan takes the ride on the G2 Futurity S. winner Armory (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), while 'TDN Rising Star' Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) will be partnered by Seamie Heffernan. Padraig Beggy, who reminded everybody of his prowess in the saddle in Tuesday's feature, teams up with the Dundalk maiden scorer Vatican City (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a full-brother to Gleneagles who took the 2015 edition of this Classic. Interestingly, the yard's possible pacemaker Fort Myers (War Front), a son of the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Marvellous (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), is drawn against the rail in one suggesting Michael Hussey could be the one to go forward.
It is not just a matter of Siskin vs Ballydoyle, however, with four other fascinating contenders in the Aga Khan's G2 Champions Juvenile S. runner-up Sinawann (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) from the Mick Halford stable, the Niarchos Family's 'TDN Rising Star' Free Solo (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) who hails from Jessica Harrington's academy, Pat Garvey's Futurity runner-up Rebel Tale (Tale of the Cat) from Andrew Slattery's yard and the Jim Bolger-trained maiden Fiscal Rules (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}).
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
