Irish 1000 Guineas: Timeform preview and free Race Pass

A field of 14 fillies are declared for the Irish 1000 Guineas at the Curragh at 15:45 which Aidan O’Brien is bidding to win the fourth year running.

‘Hot Trainer’ O’Brien has won the classic ten times in all and is responsible for four of these fillies, notably Tuesday (120p). She’s just about the pick on form after being beaten two lengths into third behind Cachet and Prosperous Voyage in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket. Considering that was just her third start after a couple of runs in maidens – she’d landed the odds on her reappearance at Naas beforehand – she looks sure to improve. However, she shaped more like a filly in need of middle distances at Newmarket and it’s worth remembering her sister Minding was turned over at short odds in this race having won the 1000 Guineas but went on to win the Oaks.

O’Brien’s other leading contender is History (115p), another lightly-raced daughter of Galileo open to further improvement. She got off the mark in a maiden at Gowran on her third and final start last season and progressed again to make a successful reappearance against several of these rivals in the Group 3 Cornelscourt Stakes at Leopardstown earlier this month, she too shaping as though likely to stay further.

Concert Hall (118) was more highly tried last year for Ballydoyle, gaining a Group 3 success in the Weld Park Stakes at the Curragh. That was her second win at the track, earning her the 'Horses For Courses' flag. She drops back in trip here after making a successful return in a listed race over a mile and a quarter at Navan last month. Aidan O’Brien’s quartet is completed by outsider Lullaby (98+) who finished down the field behind History last time after winning a maiden at Leopardstown on her reappearance.

Tuesday is entitled to plenty of respect but could prove vulnerable to Dermot Weld’s filly Homeless Songs (119p) who showed a most impressive turn of foot to win the 1000 Guineas Trial at Leopardstown over seven furlongs in April, earning the ‘Horse In Focus’ flag. She looked a work in progress at two, impressing again at Leopardstown on her debut, but her inexperience showed when sent off favourite for the Moyglare Stud Stakes on her next start. However, she looks to have returned more the finished article this year for a trainer who has won the Irish 1000 Guineas four times.

Few trainers are in better form than William Haggas, another with the ‘Hot Trainer’ flag, and he has an interesting runner in the ex-French filly Purplepay (119+), a €2m purchase out of Cedric Rossi’s yard at the end of last year. Purplepay improved with racing last year, the biggest of her three wins coming in a valuable sales race at the Arc meeting, but her best effort came on her final start when a very good third behind the smart colts Angel Bleu and Ancient Rome in the Group 1 Criterium International at Saint-Cloud. She would have been closer still, too, with a better run.

The other British-trained filly in the line-up is Mise En Scene (118) for James Ferguson and she too makes her reappearance here. She should have returned in the 1000 Guineas but was taken out on the day of the race at Newmarket with a high temperature. The winner of her first two starts last year, including the Prestige Stakes at Goodwood, Mise En Scene ran her best race when fourth in the Fillies’ Mile, just a short head behind future 1000 Guineas winner Cachet after only finding her stride when the race was all but over.

Agartha (117) represents ‘Hot Trainer’ Joseph O’Brien and is a most consistent front runner though has finished runner-up to both Homeless Songs and History at Leopardstown this year, conceding weight to the winner on the latter occasion. She was prominent in the top two-year-old fillies’ races in Ireland last year, winning the Debutante Stakes at the Curragh before finishing second in the Moyglare.

It will be some training feat from Fozzy Stack if Hermana Estrella (116p) can win this after just over a year’s absence, though she has already pulled off the rare feat of scoring first time out in Group 3 company when winning the Fillies Sprint Stakes at Naas on heavy ground last May from subsequent Queen Mary winner Quick Suzy. A chipped joint prevented Hermana Estrella from being seen out again last year.

This looks a stiff task for the remainder, though Villanova Queen and Star Girls Aalmal (both 112p) are two more lightly-raced fillies open to improvement for Jessica Harrington and Henry de Bromhead respectively. Villanova Queen won a maiden at Leopardstown on her second and final start last year before showing plenty of improvement with a staying-on third behind Homeless Songs in the 1000 Guineas Trial, while Star Girls Aaalmal beat three other winners convincingly in a minor event at Gowran on her reappearance last month.

Panama Red (110), for another ‘Hot Trainer’ Ger Lyons, ended her two-year-old season with a listed win at Leopardstown, though she’s another who’ll have to turn the tables on both Homeless Songs and History from races this spring to be successful here.

Lady of Inishfree (103), winner of a valuable sales race at Naas for Noel Meade last year, was a creditable sixth in the Cornelscourt Stakes on her return, while Freedom of Speech (103) for ‘Hot Trainer’ Jim Bolger is another outsider, though she wasn’t far behind last year’s 1000 Guineas winner Mother Earth in third when taking on older fillies in the Park Express Stakes at the Curragh on her reappearance.

Timeform analyst’s verdict

Homeless Songs displayed a deeply impressive turn of foot when taking the 1000 Guineas Trial at Leopardstown and surely has more to offer over this extra furlong. Tuesday was an excellent third in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket but shaped more like a middle-distance filly that day and may prove vulnerable to the finishing kick of Dermot Weld's filly. Purplepay would have gone close with a better run in the Criterium International and is an interesting contender starting out for the red-hot William Haggas.

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