Over the last week or so, it has been announced by Horse Racing Ireland that racing will resume after its indefinite postponement, as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. With the news that Naas will host the first racecard on June 8th, it’s also been revealed that the Irish Classics will be taking place, with the Curragh hosting the famous 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas on June 12-13th. While you check out yesterday's racing results on Betfair's Blog, we go back through the archives and look back at the past three winners of these two very famous races.
2019
1,000 Guineas winner: Hermosa
A dominant display from Hermosa saw the Aidan O’Brien-trained filly complete a Classic double, winning the Irish 1,000 Guineas at the Curragh, having already won the English equivalent at Newmarket. The 5/2 favourite always held the pace and kicked on in the final furlong to beat Pretty Pollyanna by four lengths, and provide O’Brien with his eighth win in the Classic.
2,000 Guineas winner: Phoenix of Spain
Phoenix of Spain upstaged his rival Too Darn Hot (and joint-favourite Magna Grecia, who had won the Newmarket race) to take the 2,000 Guineas title – despite not having raced all season. The Charles Hills-trained colt missed the English namesake race, but certainly rose to the challenge at the Curragh, going on to win by three lengths, with Too Darn Hot finishing in second and Magna Grecia in fourth. It was a first win for both trainer Hills and jockey, Jamie Spencer.
2018
1,000 Guineas winner: Alpha Centauri
Jessica Harrington’s Alpha Centauri upset the odds and took the crown, as favourite Happily flopped. It was a first win in the Classics for Harrington, who’d had podium finishes in the past. The filly beat massive outsider Could It Be Love by a length and a quarter, consigning the O’Brien duo (father and trainer, Aidan and son, jockey Donnacha) to second place.
2,000 Guineas winner: Romanised
There was a shock in the 2,000 Guineas, when Aidan O’Brien was ousted by Ken Condon’s Romanised. The highly-decorated trainer had to make do with a trio of second, third and fourth-place finishes, but at 25/1, Romanised was good value for his win. It was a debut win for Condon in the Classics and a first win on the track for 10 months – with the three-year-old, and Shane Foley in the saddle, winning his first major race.
2017
1,000 Guineas winner: Winter
There were no surprises this time around, with favourite and winner of the Newmarket 1,000 Guineas, Winter taking the crown at the Curragh. With Wayne Lordan in the saddle for the race three weeks previous, it marked another win for the dream duo of jockey Moore and trainer O’Brien. It was a good day for the highly successful trainer, who secured a one-two-three with Roly Poly and Hydrangea completing the top three – and he wasn’t done there…
2,000 Guineas winner: Churchill
O’Brien made it a double-double as he secured victory in the Irish 2,000 Guineas. He’d previously won the Newmarket namesake with Churchill and the colt came good with Moore in the saddle once more to complete a clean-sweep of Classics. He was the 4/9 favourite ahead of the race at the Curragh and held off the challenges of Thunder Snow to win the race by two and a half lengths – and become the ninth horse to complete the Curragh/Newmarket 2,000 Guineas double.