Irish 2000 Guineas Tips: Field Of Gold To Gain Redemption

England has had its turn for the Guineas weekend and now attention switches across the Irish Sea to the Curragh, where first on Saturday the Irish 2000 Guineas takes place. Billy Grimshaw is still licking his wounds from the English equivalent, but is keeping the faith with his Classic pick to make amends on away territory...

I am conscious to not come across as too much of a pocket talker in this preview, but one thing I think the vast majority of racing fans can agree on is the best horse did not win the first Classic of the season, the 2000 Guineas, at Newmarket at the beginning of this month. Ruling Court is a fine Guineas winner and could yet at the Derby to his resume and if he does, whatever anything that chased him home that day at Newmarket does subsequently will be inferior to his accomplishments, but FIELD OF GOLD really should've won.

Kieran Shoemark has paid the price for another poorly judged ride on board a Gosden favourite and lost his job as the stable's retained rider on the back of this defeat when he was clearly outplayed by William Buick, and were this to be his first blunder it'd be a harsh call but in my opinion he did enough wrong last season to be on thin ice coming into 2025. Such a high profile poor ride, costing the Gosden team their first ever 2000 Guineas, meant the sack was inevitable.

Colin Keane taking over is a huge positive in my opinion, especially on 'home turf' in Ireland. Keane is a fine rider when venturing abroad but is unquestionably at his best in his native Ireland and with Field Of Gold perhaps a bit of a tricky ride, he will have all the answers I suspect and I am actually hopeful we see a mightily impressive win here before the horse advances to Royal Ascot to win the St James' Palace Stakes.

Although the Godolphin pair he split are not here, this is no walk in the park for Field Of Gold and I am reticent to rule out either Expanded, who was trusted as the sole Ballydoyle runner at Newmarket but bombed out, or Officer in what is a bona fide home game for Aidan O'Brien. It could be telling Ryan Moore has deserted the former for the latter here, although I would be in no rush to back Officer at half the price of Expanded purely on their form. Wayne Lordan has won the race on a second string before and it'd be no surprise to Expanded put in a career best and finish as best of the Irish, but I don't think he has the class to beat the favourite.

Indeed, Field Of Gold's main worry may come from a horse running in the same silks in Cosmic Year. He was deeply impressive over seven furlongs last time out at Newmarket for the on fire Harry Charlton yard. That win has been franked since and what made it even more impressive was how obviously unbalanced this stunning colt became in the dip, yet he still ended up winning snugly from what we know now was a smart horse in his own right back in second. There is another Juddmonte owned runner in here, Winglord for Andrew Balding, and along with one of the Ballydoyle crew he looks set to make it a true test which should suit both Cosmic Year an Field Of Gold. I am sweet on the favourite as the best colt around this season so will be backing him, but do respect and fear Cosmic Year all the same.

Hotazhell was a surprise winner of the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster to wrap up a fantastic two year old campaign, and he has been held back for this race by Jessica Harrington. This is clearly a horse with talent, but on quick ground like he will face here he is unproven and I am just not sure he'll have the gears to go with the big two should it become a speed battle, particularly first time out. I will be cheering on Field Of Gold and expect Cosmic Year to be the chief threat, but if pushed for an each-way play Expanded is the value selection.