What should we be looking out for at this year's Irish Guineas Festival? The Irish 2000 & 1000 Guineas take place at the Curragh this weekend, and what a feast of action we look set to have on show, with some of the best horses in the world taking part. Just like that, the Irish Guineas weekend has come around to us, but what should we look out for? The highlight reel of the Irish 2000 Guineas is extremely long standing, and we have seen some spectacular horses over the years. Field Of Gold, Siskin, Churchill, Magician, Awtaad, Native Trail and Kingman have all tasted success at the Curragh Racecourse here. Gstaad hot favourite for 2000 Guineas Aidan O'Brien-trained Gstaad will be hoping to add his name to this highlight list on Saturday. He is the 4/9 favourite to achieve this feat, but those odds may drift if the Charlie Appleby-trained Distant Storm takes up his engagement. The Fozzy Stack-trained TheSecretAdversary will also look to take him down. Gstaad had a highly successful season last year. He was a Royal Ascot winner before finishing a short-head second to Venetian Sun in the Group 1 Prix Morny. This second placing followed him twice again, as he was runner-up in the National Stakes at the Curragh and then again in the Dewhurst Stakes, before he tasted deserved success in America in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. UK entries strong On Saturday, we also have the Group 2 six-furlong Greenland Stakes, which looks like it will have plenty of runners from abroad, as the likes of William Haggas, Andrew Balding and Karl Burke all have horses entered so far. The 4:15 Gallinule Stakes Group 3 takes place, and it will be interesting to see how the Aidan O'Brien-trained Drop Dead Gorgeous gets on in that one, as it looked like she would definitely improve for her last start at the Curragh. Royal Ascot potentials on show Onto Sunday then, and we start with the Group 2 Marble Hill Stakes, where the impressive debutant Great Barrier Reef will look to land this prize before heading to Ascot. The Group 2 Lanwades Stud Stakes takes place at 3:20, and we’ve the likes of City Of Memphis, One Look, Francophone, Celestial Orbit and recent Newmarket winner Jancis all set to line up. Minnie Hauk faces tough opposition Before the Tattersalls Gold Cup, Minnie Hauk will look to win her second race of the season, but competition will be tough in the shape of Almaqam, who was third in the Champion Stakes for trainer Ed Walker last year, and the Joseph O'Brien-trained Wemightakedlongway, who was second to Minnie Hauk in last year’s Irish Oaks, she is already entered this weekend in Haydock so it will be interesting to see where she does take up her engagement Fillies head into battle It looks as if Aidan O'Brien might have the two favourites in the Irish 1000 Guineas, with True Love and Precise set to do battle, but as we have seen in the past in this race, Newmarket form does not always transfer over. The Richard Hughes-trained America Queen and the Danny McLoughlin-trained Magny Cours, who was a fast-finishing second to True Love on her first start of the season at Leopardstown, definitely make it look an open and interesting renewal.
