THETATTERSALLS IRISH1,000GUINEAS (GROUP1)

This race was inaugurated a year after the Irish 2000 Guineas and the first running in 1922 was won by Lady Violette and she was ridden by Morny Wing who remains the most successful jockey in the race’s history with seven victories. Wing’s last success came a quarter of a century after his first as he teamed up with Hubert Hartigan to take the 1947 running with Sea Symphony.

Only four fillies have completed the English-Irish 1,000 Guineas double. The first to do so was Attraction in 2004 and she was followed by Finsceal Beo (2007), Winter (2017) and Hermosa (2019). Finsceal Beo came within a head of completing the near inconceivable treble of the English-French-Irish Guineas hat-trick. The 20/1 success of Classic Park in 1997 is particularly noteworthy as it was the first classic success for Aidan O’Brien.

There have been 28 English-trained winners of the race while the last of the four French trained successes came when Olivier Douieb’s L’Attrayante justified 4/1 favouritism in 1983.

In recent years, Irish racing’s biggest names have tasted success in this race, with Aidan O’Brien winning in 2014, 2019, 2020 and 2021. Jessica Harrington won in 2018 with Alpha Centauri and Jim Bolger landed the spoils in 2015 with Pleascach.

Last year saw Dermot Weld land his third renewal of this prestigious race. His successes came with Nightime (2006), Bethrah (2010) and Homeless Songs (2022), giving Chris Hayes a taste of Classic success, which ended the Aidan O’Brien dominance.