Roman Could Conquer At The Curragh

The Classics are starting to come thick and fast and the Guineas Festival goes ahead at the Curragh this weekend. On Saturday it is the turn of the colts in the 2000 Guineas and I think Romanised is far too big a price for Ken Condon at odds of 40/1. This year’s renewal looks a very open one and with no Saxon Warrior in the field I think a case can be made for a few of them.

However, the bookies haven’t missed the higher profile horses and one that comes into the race under the radar is Romanised. This son of Holy Roman Emperor has failed to hit the target since his debut win at Navan (6f gd) but he has been very highly tried and he hasn’t been beaten that far on his last few runs.

Romanised met a lot of trouble in running last time and looks overpriced. 

He showed he could cope with good to firm ground when staying on strongly after a tardy start for 7th, beaten just over 2L, in the Coventry at Royal Ascot on his second run and he was only beaten 3L over the same trip in the Phoenix Stakes on good to firm on his next outing. However, the run that makes him of interest for the 2000 Guineas was his fine 2nd to Masar in the Solario Stakes at Sandown on his final start of last season.

Masar has franked that piece of form this term, hacking up in the Craven by 9L and following that up with an excellent effort in 3rd beaten less than 2L by Saxon Warrior in the English 2000 Guineas. If that piece of form is taken literally Romanised doesn’t have a whole lot to find with the likes of Elarqam or Gustav Klimt, the two horses that head the market.

The reason for Romanised’s massive price is probably his 6th placed finish in the 7f Listed Tetrarch Stakes on ground that would have been easy enough for him on his seasonal comeback. He was beaten 3L at the finish but if you consider he was slow away and found an awful lot of trouble in running, I think he could have finished a whole lot closer to the likes of Imaging and Would Be King with a clearer passage through the race.

I think this fella has been crying out for the step up to a mile too as his pedigree is all about stamina. His half brother Rock Of Romance is a Group 3 winner at 1m 6f and his half sister Stravinsky won a listed race at the Curragh over 14f, as well as a 16f listed race at Ascot. The quicker they go early in the 2000 Guineas the better it will be for Romanised and I can see him staying on late to hopefully reward each way support at odds of 40/1.

STEVOS’ SELECTION: IRISH 2000 GUINEAS-ROMANISED E/W @ 40/1