Curragh welcomes forecast rain The forecast rain at the Curragh ahead of the two-day Irish Guineas meeting will be welcomed after a dry spell that has seen the ground quicken to good to firm. General manager Paul Hensey will be pleased to see the rain fall as the week progresses as it will mean he will not have to water the track. "The forecast is for the weather to become more unsettled," he said. "I've spoken to the Met Office and they were saying we'd be getting light showers today and tomorrow and then get more rain on Thursday and Friday, possibly with five millimetres each day. "To be honest, we need some rain here. We're good to firm and more firm than good on certain parts of the track at the moment. "I'd say if we weren't getting rain between now and the weekend, we'd be turning on the taps. The rain is very welcome. "How much rain we get will determine what the ground will be for the meeting. "It's very hard to speculate, but at the moment the round course is more firm than good and the straight course was plenty quick enough this morning, so we would welcome the rain at this stage." Hensey is delighted at the quality of the entries for the weekend at the confirmation stage. "Both days are top drawer. On Saturday the Group races are fantastic and the 2,000 Guineas is very competitive with Galileo Gold and Air Force Blue trying to redeem himself," he said. "There's a strong home team with Kevin Prendergast having a promising horse called Awtaad and Michael O'Callaghan having a very nice horse in Blue De Vega, who is starting to come to himself now. "On Sunday, the 1,000 Guineas is a cracking race as well, with whatever Aidan O'Brien runs in it and we've got a couple of English fillies coming over. "The Tattersalls Gold Cup could be the race of the year if we get the best horses coming."
