Hayes hoping Awtaad can bounce back Chris Hayes is keeping his fingers crossed Irish 2,000 Guineas hero Awtaad can bounce back to his best on Irish Champions Weekend next month. Kevin Prendergast's star colt saw off Newmarket Guineas winner Galileo Gold in the Curragh Classic back in May and while that form was reversed in the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, Awtaad was far from disgraced in finishing third. There was another rematch in the Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood, but while Royal Ascot one-two The Gurkha and Galileo Gold fought out the finish, with the former narrowly prevailing, Awtaad finished a well-beaten eighth of 10 runners. The Hamdan Al Maktoum-owned three-year-old will bid to get his season back on track in either the Irish Champion Stakes or the Boomerang Stakes at Leopardstown on September 10. Hayes said: "Hopefully he'll run in one of the races (on Champions Weekend). "He has the two options in the Champion and the Group Two. Hopefully he can come back and show his best."
