Churchill a worthy favourite in Irish 2000 Guineas

Race-by-race selections at the Curragh

Coral punters have a busy Saturday of UK and Irish horse racing ahead, but there’s little doubt about where the highlight goes, with the Curragh hosting its Guineas weekend. The Irish 2000 Guineas takes place on Saturday, with an equally competitive 1000 Guineas on Sunday.

We have it covered, and here you’ll find betting on the race of the day, as well as all the meetings taking place over the course of Saturday and Sunday – click now to have your say.

Following an impressive week of winners, with four of our last five NAPs landing, we aim to keep the profits rolling in on the highlight. Follow our best and next best at the Curragh, or skip to the foot of this page for our popular race-by-race selections, aimed at boosting your multiples.

Churchill to do the double

Betting for the 2017 Irish 2000 Guineas (4.10pm Curragh) is dominated by Aidan O’Brien’s star attraction Churchill. Coral traders have the three-year-old a convincing jolly, with 4/11 the current call. We expect that to attract plenty of attention in the run up to the off.

The Galileo colt was last seen stretching his CV to six wins from seven starts when claiming the English version of this race at Goodwood earlier in May. Again, going off as the shortest price of the field, he lived up to the hype, edging out Barney Roy by a length to bank the prize money. The margin of victory would suggest a close-run race, but Churchill was timed to perfection, noted running on at the finish.

Already has the measure of his rivals

That will do plenty to encourage punters as he aims to do the Guineas double, and the fact he already shows a pair of wins at this track doesn’t put us off either, taking the Futurity Stakes in August and the Vincent O’Brien National Stakes in September.

This track is, of course, the scene of his sole defeat to date, but that was on debut, over shorter and on soft ground, so has been forgotten about. The selection already has the measure of most of these, and if running to the best of his ability, nothing in the pack will get close to beating him. Ryan Moore takes the ride, which is another massive plus for backers, and although he’s short, he fully deserves to be.

Nice price on Captain Power

Next best on the list goes earlier in the day, the 2.25pm handicap, settled over six furlongs. Of a whopping 22-runner field, we pin our hopes on Captain Power. Another favourite, but there’s much more of a price going for us here, with Coral offering an attractive 8/1.

He made his first outing of the year last month when finishing mid-division at Navan, but we expect that run to have sharpened his senses again. There was plenty to like about that effort, away from the bare result, and if getting the benefits of it, that we expect to see, he’ll have a major say in this one. There’s a few ifs and buts here, but the price makes him easy to take a chance on, and that’s what we do.

Curragh selections

1.50 – Clemmie

2.25 – Captain Power

3.00 – Brother Bear

3.35 – Acapulco

4.10 – Churchill

4.45 – Opal Tiara

5.15 – Song Of Namibia

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