Irish Guineas

The Curragh could be next for Rosallion (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) and Haatem (Ire) (Phoenix Of Spain {Ire}) after the Richard Hannon-trained colts finished second and third respectively behind Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the Qipco 2000 Guineas on Saturday.  The Hannon stable last recorded victory in the Irish 2,000 Guineas when Canford Cliffs (Ire) ran out a hugely impressive scorer back in 2010. "I'm immensely proud of both horses," Hannon reflected. "They ran good races and we'll have a lot of sport with them through the year. He...

Al Shira'aa boss Kieran Lalor has admitted that it will be hard to top last season's achievements in winning the G1 Prix Saint-Alary with Jannah Rose (Ire) but nominated the Willie McCreery-trained Group 2 scorer Vespertilio (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) as being the operation's best chance of delivering big-race riches in 2024.  Meanwhile, the decision has been made to retire the powerful owner-breeder's flagship performer Jannah Rose, with a visit to superstar stallion Dubawi (Ire) pencilled in for the four-year-old this spring. Lalor explained how retiring the Group 1-winning...

Heavy rain in Ireland in the last 24 hours has left the Curragh racecourse partly waterlogged, forcing a 7.30am inspection on Saturday ahead of the first of two Classic  race days this weekend. The racecourse's chief executive Pat Keogh confirmed that the course is currently unraceable. He said: "We got a lot more rain than we anticipated overnight. We were forecast 15 millimetres at the most in the last 24 hours, and we got 35 millimetres. It's come completely out of left field, unfortunately." He added, "The track would not be raceable...

Tattersalls will continue its sponsorship of the Irish 2000 and 1000 Guineas and the Tattersalls Gold Cup in 2021. The Irish Guineas Festival at The Curragh takes place on May 22 and 23 this year. Prizemoney for the Tattersalls Irish 2000 and 1000 Guineas will be €400,000 apiece, while the Gold Cup will be worth €300,000. Edmond Mahony, chairman of Tattersalls, said, "The Tattersalls Irish Guineas Festival is a hugely important part of the Tattersalls global sponsorship portfolio and demonstrates our sustained commitment to supporting the racing and breeding industries...

Irish racing will resume on June 8 with a card at Naas, with the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas set for Friday, June 12 at The Curragh, and the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas the following day. The G1 Irish Derby and G1 Irish Oaks remain on their traditional dates of June 27 and July 18, respectively, while Irish Champions Weekend will take place Sept. 12 and 13. International participation will be restricted to Group 1 and 2 races only for June, with personnel required to comply with government policy on the...