We got back into the winner’s enclosure on Saturday with Song Of The Clyde. What a relief! This weekend, we have two cracking days of racing at the Curragh. On Saturday, the 3yo colts take centre stage for the Irish 2000 Guineas and then on Sunday, it’s all about the girls in the 1000 Guineas.
We’ve had a bit of success in these races before, including
when we backed Romanised to win
at 40/1 (one of my favourite ever tips, hard to believe it was eight years
ago) and last year, the 1000 Guineas was the race that convinced me to put
Cercene up for Ascot at triple-figure odds. Hopefully this year’s renewals are
equally as fruitful.
2026 Irish 2000 Guineas
Gstaad, a winner of three of his seven races, is a very
short price to go one better than he did at Newmarket. He should come on for
that run and he is miles clear on official ratings but 4/9? That looks a bit
too short to me, especially when you consider his all-conquering yard’s recent
record in this race isn’t exactly what you might expect (two wins in ten
years).
O’Brien has three other
runners and no doubt they’ll do their very best to ensure the race is run to
suit Gstaad but, in saying that, his Coolmore owned sire Starspangledbanner
has already sired multiple Group 1 winners and he’s 19 years old now so
commercially, it would probably be better for their operation if Neolithic won.
He’s by Sioux Nation, another Coolmore sire, and he has yet
to sire a Group 1 winner in Ireland, the UK or France. His fee has risen
steadily since he was introduced at 12,500 in 2019 and after another 7.5k hike
this year, his fee now stands at 37,500. Seen as a speed influence by most, if
he were to sire a 1m G1 winner his fee would probably double next year. At 40s,
he might be worth a little e/w dabble.
Star To Shine?
However, at even bigger odds I am going to go with another
son of Starspangledbanner, the Johnny Murtagh trained Take Charge Star.
According to my research, this will be Murtagh’s first runner in the Irish 2000
Guineas since his only previous runner in 2013, Fort Knox, who finished out the
back.
Given the success he has had since joining the training
ranks, I was hugely surprised by that fact. My thinking is that he’s been
waiting until he had a proper horse to have another go and while on bare form with a rating of just 97 Take Charge Star has no apparent chance, if he had got a clearer run in the
Listed Tetrarch Stakes over C&D (good) last time out I think he may have
beaten Neolithic (40s here).
On his seasonal return at Naas, he ran in a three runner 1m
conditions race on soft ground and finished 4l behind Hardy Warrior, who is 33s
here. He also failed to reach the first four in the Goffs Million on soft ground last season. However, I’m not sure testing ground is his bag and while there was lots of rain
around in Ireland early this week, the forecast is much better for the next few days so it
should be beautiful ground for both the 2000 and 1000 Guineas this weekend.
Pedigree Pointers
Is Take Charge Star bred to be a Guineas horse? Well, he’s
by the same sire as the 4/9 favourite, so that box is ticked. There’s
encouragement to be taken from the dam side of his pedigree too. He’s out of a
Group 2 winning Selkirk mare, and Selkirk is damsire to the likes of Daryz,
Benbatl, Inspiral and Kinross, among others. His half-sister Albigna won the
French 1000 Guineas and his granddam’s half-sister Domedriver won the Breeders’
Cup Mile. He certainly has the pedigree, anyway.
It was Take Charge Star’s first run over 1m on good ground
last time and given how he was ridden, buried on the inner, it was probably a fact-finding
mission. Given that he has been left in the race, Ben Coen must have been
pretty happy with the run and he did travel very strongly until he ran out of room
2f out, got checked and lost all momentum. I think there could be a bigger run than the odds suggest in
this colt so at 66/1, a small e/w interest is advised. Hopefully he can sneak into the first three.
2026 Irish 2000 Guineas Tip: Take Charge Star e/w @ 66/1
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