Irish Guineas Festival: Race List & Meeting Info

Day One Races - Irish 2,000 Guineas

Irish EBF Auction Maiden

5f

Run in association with the Irish European Breeders’ Fund, this race for maidens is run over five furlongs. When the Going is Good to Firm you can expect it to last for about a minute before the leaders hit the finish line in search of the €25,000 prize. The race itself is open to horses aged two.

Heritage Hotel & Spa Handicap

6f

Sponsored by the Heritage Hotel & Spa at the time of writing, this race involves the use of the handicapper, who assigns weight for the horses to carry depending on their ability. It’s for horses aged three and over and is run over six furlongs, lasting for about a minute and ten seconds on Good to Firm ground. The winners takes home €20,000.

Weatherbys Greenlands Stakes

Group 2, 6f

The overly long title here is due to sponsorship, with the race's official name being simply the Greenland Stakes. It is named in honour of the area on the Curragh plain on which the racecourse is located. It was a Group 3 contest that was also open to three-year-olds until 2015, at which point it was promoted to Group 2 and shifted to be for horses aged four and over.

Run on the straight over six furlongs, it has the following weight information attached:

• Weight: 9 stone 3 pounds
• Allowance: 3 pounds for fillies and mares
• Penalties: 3 pounds for Group 1 race winners

College Chapel and Hitchens go down as being the race's most successful horses, having won the race twice apiece. Lester Piggott has won it more times than any other jockey, doing so six times between 1973 and 1994. That pales in comparison to Vincent O'Brien's achievement, however, with the trainer having won it thirteen times between 1958 and 1994.

Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas

Group 1, 1m

The older of the two Guineas races was created just a year before its sibling, having been taking place since 1921. As with the other race, it is the Irish version of the English Classic race of the same name and is usually run just less than a month after it.

This means that horses can travel from England after racing at Newmarket and take part in the Irish version of the race. At the time of writing nine different horses have won both races, with Right Tack being the first to do so in 1969 and Churchill the latest in 2017.

Open to horses aged three but excluding geldings, the weight is nine stone but fillies receive a three pound allowance. It's run right-handed over one mile and is a Group 1 offering. As with the Irish 1,000 Guineas, horses that do well in it often go on to compete in another race later in the season. In the case of the Irish 2,000 Guineas that other race is the St. James' Palace Stakes at Ascot.

No jockey has won the Irish 2,000 Guineas more often than Tommy Burns, Sr, who won the debut race on the back of Soldennis in 1921 and then won it four more times up to 1941. In the modern era Christy Roche came close to matching him with four wins, whilst a number of jockeys including Pat Eddery, Michael Kinane and Lester Piggott won it three times apiece. Interestingly, both Frankie Dettori and his father Gianfranco Dettori have won this race.

Aidan O'Brien matches his stat of being the most successful in the Irish 1,000 Guineas by also being the most successful trainer when it comes to the Irish 2,000 Guineas. Between 1997 and 2017 he won the race eleven times, with one of those victories coming on Churchill who went on to win the St. James' at Ascot later in the season.

Lanwades Stud Stakes

Group 2, 1m

Officially registered as the Ridgewood Pearl Stakes, this race is also known as the Lanwades Stud Stakes thanks to an association with the stud farm since 2014. A Group 2 race that is open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged four and over, the weight is nine stone with a three pound penalty for Group 1 race winners. It is run right-handed over one mile.

The race's official name is in honour of Ridgewood Pearl, who was a successful filly in the 1990s that had been trained in Ireland. She died in 2003 and that year the race now known as the Renaissance Stakes was named in her honour before this race was established as a Group 2 offering in the year after. Interestingly, it was downgraded to Group 3 in 2007 and then return to Group 2 in 2015.

The race has enjoyed numerous sponsors since it was established and at the time of writing Emulous is the only horse to have won it twice, which she did consecutively in 2011 and 2012. Pat Smullen was on board for both of those races as well as winning two others, making him the event's most successful jockey. Equally Dermot Weld trained her for both wins as well as Brooch in 2015 to make him the most successful trainer associated with the race.

FBD Hotels & Resorts Handicap

1m 2f

Another race at the Festival that is currently sponsored by a hotel chain, this one is a Premier Handicap and is open to horses aged four and over. It takes place over one mile and two furlongs, with the winner taking home €50,000 in prize money. When the Going is Good to Firm, the race lasts for about two minutes and ten seconds.

New Curragh Handicap

1m

Day One of the Irish Guineas Festival comes to a close with the New Curragh Handicap, which is run over one mile and open to horses aged three. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly given the length of the event, it tends to last for about a minute and forty seconds when the Going is Good to Firm. There’s €25,000 on offer to the winner.

Day Two Races - Irish 1,000 Guineas

Irish EBF (C & G) Maiden

6f

Day Two of the Festival gets underway with a maiden race for colts and geldings. Run in association with the Irish European Breeders’ Fund, it is a race aimed at two-year-olds. Taking place over six furlongs, the event reaches its climax after about a minute and ten second when the ground is Good to Firm. €20,000 is the winner’s prize.

Hanlon Concrete Handicap

6f

Sponsored by Hanlon Concrete at the time of writing, this even is for horses aged three and over with a rating of between 45 and 70. It’s a handicap event, so the handicapper assigns weight according to the horse’s ability for this six furlong race. The prize money on offer to the winning horse sits at the €20,000 mark.

Curragh Handicap

5f

Advertising the course’s own events is this handicap race for horses aged three and over. It’s run over five furlongs, so when the Going is Good to Firm it will take the leaders about a minute to hit the finishing line. The winning horse for this race gets to take about €25,000 from a larger pot, with other horses getting smaller amounts.

Tattersalls Gold Cup

Group 1, 1m 2f 110y

There are countless races known as the Gold Cup, with the one run during the Cheltenham Festival being the most exciting. Don't under-estimate this Group 1 offering, however. It's open to horses aged four and over with a weight of nine stone and three pounds, though fillies and mares are given a three pound allowance. Run right-handed over one mile, two and a half furlongs, it was established as the Ballymoss Stakes in 1962.

The name 'Ballymoss' was given in honour of a successful horse trained in Ireland during the 1950s and the race was originally run at Limerick Junction over a distance of one mile, three and a half furlongs and then one mile and four furlongs. Back then it was open to horses aged three and over. It was renamed as the Rogers Gold Cup in 1984 and had its minimum age raised to four the year after that.

The race was sponsored by Tattersalls and soon became known as the Tattersalls Rogers Gold Cup, though its title was shortened to the Tattersalls Gold Cup in 1993. It was a Group 2 race for a time, gaining promotion to Group 1 in 1999.

To date, three horses have won the race twice. They are:

• Yankee Gold (1976, 1977)
• So You Think (2011, 2012)
• Al Kazeem (2013, 2015)

Michael Kinane won the race six times between 1987 and 2003, which is more than any other jockey. He's far from the only one to have had more than one victory in the race, though, with the likes of Pat Smullen, Johnny Murtagh and James Doyle all winning it three times to date. Aidan O'Brien's eight wins as a trainer make him the race's most successful one.

Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas

Group 1, 1m

Where else to start but with Irish 1,000 Guineas? It is actually the younger of the two Irish Guineas races that are run during the course of the weekend, inaugurated as it was in 1922. Being as it is the Irish version of the English Classic, it usually welcomes at least some of the horses that took part in the 1,000 Guineas Newmarket. To date there have been four horses that have won both races in the same season:

• Attraction (2004)
• Finsceal Beo (2007)
• Winter (2017)
• Hermosa (2019)

What's interesting about that list is that, despite the race having been taking place since 1922, they are all relatively modern winners of both events. If you're interested to know which horses that do well in the Irish 1,000 Guineas go on to be competitive in other races later in the season then you'll want to keep an eye on the Coronation Stakes at Ascot. Alpha Centauri is an example of a horse that won both in 2018.

In terms of race information, it is run right-handed over one mile. It is open to three-year-old fillies with a weight of nine stone. No jockey has won the race more times than Morny Wing, who won the first ever version of the 1,000 Guineas and went on to win it another six times, with no one coming close to that since 1972.

There's also a standout when it comes to the Irish 2,000 Guineas and the most successful trainer of the modern era. Aidan O'Brien won his first title in the race in 1997 and won it another seven times between then and 2019, including being the man behind both Winter and Hermosa. If he's got a horse in the field, therefore, it might be worth a flutter.

Irish EBF 'Habitat' Handicap

1m

Run in association with the Irish Stallion Farms European Breeders Fund, this race takes place over one mile and comes after the day’s feature race, the Irish 1,000 Guineas. It’s open to horses aged three and over and boasts an impressive winner’s prize of €50,000. A handicap event, it takes around a minute an a half when the ground is Good to Firm.

Boodles Handicap

2m

Currently sponsored by the jewellery company Boodles, the penultimate race of the day is another handicap event. This time it’s run over two miles, lasting for around three minutes and forty seconds when the Going is Good to Firm. It’s for horses aged four and over and the winner will take home about €26,000 in prize money.

Irish EBF Maiden

1m 2f

The Irish Guineas Festival is drawn to a close with this maiden race that is run in association with the Irish Stallion Farms European Breeders Fund. Open to horses aged three and over and tending to last for about two minutes and ten seconds when the Going is Good to Firm, it is run over one mile and two furlongs and offers a prize of €20,000.