Curragh

Due to the continuing inclement weather which has led to a series of recent fixture cancellations, Horse Racing Ireland has announced a number of rescheduled meetings, starting with the G3 Curragh's Alleged S. meeting being moved to Saturday, April 20. This meeting replaces the April 6 meeting at the Curragh which was lost to the weather. Entries for this meeting will close by noon next Tuesday, April 16 with declarations to run to be made by 10am on Thursday, April 18.    As the Curragh is also scheduled for Sunday, April...

Aidan O'Brien is busy preparing for what could turn out to be one of his boldest ever campaigns at Ballydoyle with plans in place for City Of Troy (Justify) to tackle the 2,000 Guineas and the Derby followed by an audacious tilt at the Travers S. on the dirt at Saratoga later this summer. Meanwhile, dual Derby and Breeders' Cup hero Auguste Rodin (Deep Impact {Jpn}), arguably the most important older horse to have been kept in training at Ballydoyle for many years, is set to get his campaign underway...

Nine new race days have been added to the World Pool calendar in the first six months of 2024, including the Newmarket fixture on Sunday, May 5 which features the G1 QIPCO 1,000 Guineas. One other race on the card will be included during a bumper weekend of action on the Rowley Mile, following on from the entire G1 QIPCO 2,000 Guineas card on Saturday, May 4 which has been a World Pool event since 2022. The other additions to the schedule include the G1 Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas and...

Widely considered one of the shrewdest judges of equine talent on an international scale, Robson Aguiar has described Bucanero Fuerte (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB) as the best horse he has ever ridden and predicted the colt would be very hard to beat in Saturday's G1 Phoenix S. at the Curragh. It was Aguiar who first spotted the potential in the Adrian Murray-trained Bucanero Fuerte as a yearling last year and went to €165,000 to secure the colt from Etreham at the August Sale at Arqana.  Victory in the first juvenile...

Anyone privy to the sensational closing sectionals of Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the Derby will be approaching Sunday's G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at The Curragh with great anticipation of what he can do next. While Epsom's final three furlongs lend themselves to electric fractions, the 33.01 that Ballydoyle's latest celebrity covered them in is nothing short of remarkable and already places him in exalted territory among the very elite to have conquered the demands of the Blue Riband. Now that the only marginally less brilliant...

Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) is on track to bid for a Derby double at the Curragh on Sunday with Aidan O'Brien's Epsom hero heading a field of 11 forfeits for the Curragh showpiece.  If successful in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby, Auguste Rodin would provide the master of Ballydoyle with his 100th European Classic success, but the colt will face stiff competition with the third and fourth home at Epsom still in the picture for the race.  O'Brien has five horses remaining in the €1.25m contest, which...

John Murphy has reported White Birch (GB) (Ulysses {Ire}) to have come out of his third-placed Derby effort in good order and says that he is looking forward to the rematch with Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the Irish equivalent at the Curragh insisting "there's no hiding now". Despite breaking slowly at Epsom on Saturday, White Birch made tremendous late ground to finish a good third under Colin Keane, leaving connections optimistic about what the future may hold for the grey. "It was a relief. We were absolutely...

Michael Tabor, John and Susan Magnier, Derrick Smith and Westerberg's Derby hero Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) is expected to make his next start in the July 2 G1 Irish Derby at The Curragh. "I would say he'll go to the Irish Derby," Tabor told racingtv.com. "I haven't discussed it, but it's common sense to say he definitely goes to the Irish Derby. Then we'll bring him back in trip--a mile and a quarter--for some of those races." The striking bay colt previously finished 12th in the May 6...

Al Riffa (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), winner of last year's G1 National S. and ante-post favourite for Saturday's G1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas, has been ruled out of the race with "a little setback," the Irish Field reported. While announcing that the Jassim Bin Al-Attiyah-owned colt would not make the Curragh this weekend, trainer Joseph O'Brien remains confident that the colt will make the G1 St James's Palace S. on opening day of the Royal Ascot meeting June 20. He is a 6-1 chance for that mile test ante-post with...

Royal Ascot is calling for American owner Leonard Green and his son Jonathan after Do It With Style (Ire) (Ten Sovereigns {Ire}), named after the family's first Grade I winner from over 30 years ago, marked herself down as a top-notch prospect on debut for Donnacha O'Brien at the Curragh on Monday. This is becoming a familiar success story for the Green family in Ireland who, frustrated with competing with the big guns in the sales ring back home in the States, decided to come up with a plan to...

Donnacha O'Brien is predicting that Piz Badile (Ire) (Ulysses {Ire}) will strip a lot fitter for his comeback effort in the G3 Alleged S. at the Curragh on Sunday and identified the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup as the early-season target for last year's Irish Derby runner-up.  The trainer also provided an upbeat bulletin on the hugely-exciting Proud And Regal (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who could get his season underway in the G3 Derrinstown Derby Trial at Leopardstown on May 7.  Piz Badile will face just five rivals on Sunday, including likely...

The Curragh Racecourse has extended its partnership with A.R.M. Holding, a Dubai-based multi-sector investment house, who will sponsor one of the key races on Irish Derby weekend in July. The A.R.M. Holding Dash, run on July 2, will be run for €100,000, making it one of the richest sprint races in Ireland.  Chaired by His Highness Sheikh Ahmad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, A.R.M. Holding was established to contribute to the growth of the Emirates through strategic investments in multiple sectors.  In addition, Jebel Ali Racecourse and Stables, under the patronage...