Irish 1000 Guineas Tips, Betting Offers and Odds

Three weeks after Newmarket’s 1000 Guineas, the opening fillies’ classic of the Irish season takes place at The Curragh, with the Irish 2000 Guineas following soon after. Here we take a look at the best odds and offers surrounding the Irish 1000 Guineas and provide our betting tips for the race.

This Group 1 contest restricted to three year old fillies is held over the straight mile at The Curragh. First run in 1922, the contest has grown in both prestige and value over the years and is now worth €174,000 to the winner.

Irish 1000 Guineas Tips and Betting Offers, 4:25 at Curragh, 26 May 2019

One day after hosting the Irish 2000 Guineas, the Curragh plays host to the equivalent contest for fillies. Open only to three-year-olds, the Irish 1000 Guineas is a Group 1 run over a trip of 1 mile and carries a very healthy winner’s prize of €232,000.

High Quality Rematch Ahead

Aidan O’Brien completed the double of the Newmarket Guineas thanks to a surprise win from Hermosa in the 1000 Guineas. With a starting price of 14/1, Hermosa’s victory was very much welcomed by the bookies but some shrewd punters were on board, armed with the knowledge that longer priced winners are far from a rarity in the 1000 Guineas.

You won’t get anything like that 14/1 about Hermosa’s chances of winning at the Curragh. In fact, bet365 are top priced about her at 11/4. Whether or not that price reflects value will depend on how the race pans out. Wayne Lordan did a very good job on board at Newmarket by setting a fast gallop so that Hermosa could utilise her stamina to grind down her rivals and dig in for the win.

It is interesting that Hermosa will be competing in the Irish 1000 Guineas given that everything suggests she’ll be even better over middle distance trips. Certainly, things will need to go to plan at the Curragh with Qabala breathing down the favourite’s neck.

Qabala arrived at Newmarket with an unbeaten record but having made just two starts and her lack of experience seemed to tell on such a big stage. Roger Varian believes that Qabala is only going to improve for that experience at Newmarket, if that proves the case then she may well be able to reverse the form against Hermosa and win the Irish 1000 Guineas.

Can Pretty Pollyanna Finally Step to a Mile?

Pretty Pollyanna’s early performances as a two-year-old were very eye catching. She showed a highly impressive turn of pace which saw her win three times over 6 furlongs and get tounges wagging about her potential as a 1000 Guineas winner. Those expectations were lowered during her final performance of the season when she was disappointing in the Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket.

In the end, Pretty Pollyanna did not return to Newmarket for a crack at the Guineas but she is now ready to make her seasonal reappearance at the Curragh which has excited many punters. Michael Bell is hopeful that the work done at home will allow Pretty Pollyanna to utilise her pace over 1 mile and that she will seriously challenge in the Irish 1000 Guineas.

Betting Predictions

It will take a very strong performance from any of the horses outside of the top two in the betting to win the Irish 1000 Guineas. Hermosa has the experience and the proven quality over 1 mile at the Group 1 level but preference goes to Qabala at 3/1 with Coral given that she is on the up and could prove to be one of the very best of the current crop of three-year-old fillies. When it comes to an each way bet, it’s tough to look past Pretty Pollyanna who looks generously priced at 12/1 with Ladbrokes.

Previous Winners

2018 – Alpha Centauri – jockey Colm O’Donoghue, trainer Jessica Harrington
2017 – Winter – jockey Ryan Moore, trainer Aidan O’Brien
2016 – Jet Setting – jockey Shane Foley, trainer Adrian Keatley
2015 – Pleascach – jockey Kevin Manning, trainer Jim Bolger
2014 – Marvellous – jockey Ryan Moore, trainer Aidan O’Brien
2013 – Just The Judge – jockey Jamie Spencer, trainer Charles Hills
2012 – Samitar – jockey Martin Harley, trainer Mich Channon
2011 – Misty For Me – jockey Seamie Heffernan, trainer Aidan O’Brien
2010 – Bethrah – jockey Pat Smullen, trainer Dermot Weld
2009 – Again – jockey Johnny Murtagh, trainer David Wachman
2008 – Halfway To Heaven – jockey Seamie Heffernan, trainer Aidan O’Brien
2007 – Finsceal Beo – jockey Kevin Manning, trainer Jim Bolger
2006 – Nightime – jockey Pat Smullen, trainer Dermot Weld

Irish 1000 Guineas History

The inaugural running of this Irish fillies’ Classic, came just one year after the 1921 debut off the colt dominated Irish 2000 Guineas. It takes a pretty smart filly to win any classic contest but there are nevertheless a few that stand out from the crowd amongst the previous winners here.

1979 winner Godetia is worthy of note. As of 2015 she remains the most recent filly to achieve the Irish Classic double of the Irish 1000 Guineas and the Irish Oaks

Al Bahathri followed up a promising two year old campaign by taking both this race and the Coronation Stakes in 1985. Al Bahathri’s name lives on not just in the list of previous winners here but also on the gallops at Newmarket. The filly’s owner Hamdan Al Maktoum was instrumental in the development of an all-weather facility at the training centre which was named the Al Bahathri gallop.

David Elsworth’s In The Groove was perhaps the most talented winners of the 1990s, following up success here with wins in both the Champion Stakes and Coronation Cup. 1995 winner Ridgewood Pearl wasn’t too bad either though, winning both the Coronation Stakes and the Breeder’s Cup Mile in America.

Aidan O’Brien hasn’t done quite as well here as in the Irish 2000 Guineas, but still has a more than respectable tally. The smartest of his first six winners was undoubtedly the 2001 winner Imagine. The daughter of Sadler’s Wells won both this race and The Oaks at Epsom before embarking on a successful career as a broodmare.

As of 2015 only two runners had achieved the English and Irish 1000 Guineas double. Mark Johnstson’s Attraction became the first filly to achieve this feat in 2004 and was quickly followed by Finsceal Beo for Jim Bolger in 2007.

Somewhat surprisingly for one of these major Irish races, the trainer with the best record in this was not named O’Brien until after the 2017 – and even then he had to share the spoils. With seven wins in total between the years of 1928 and 1954, it is one Hubert Hartigan who jointly leads the way amongst the handlers. Aidan O’Brien drew level with seven winners in 2017 when Winter did the business. Seven is the magic number for the leading rider too with Morny Wing being the man out in front.

The leading owner will be somewhat more familiar to modern day racing fans than the most successful trainer and jockey. Sue Magnier is the lady behind the all navy silks sported by many of the Aidan O’Brien string, and has had at least a share in seven of the winners here since the turn of the century – will she add another this year?