Irish 2,000 Guineas ante-post favourite Al Riffa to miss Curragh Classic this weekend

A setback that has ruled out long-term Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas favourite Al Riffa has blown the first Irish Classic of the season wide open.

Last seen running out an impressive winner of the Group 1 Vincent O'Brien National Stakes at the Curragh in September, the Joseph O'Brien-trained colt had been a 5-4 favourite with the Irish Guineas festival official betting partner Novibet for Saturday's mile Group 1.

However, O'Brien on Monday revealed that he will miss the race after suffering a small setback, depriving the €500,000 showpiece of one of it's headline acts.

The three-year-old was set to make his eagerly awaited seasonal debut after an outstanding juvenile season, culminating in a high-class performance in the National Stakes in which he stormed to victory from subsequent Group 1 winner Proud And Regal.

O'Brien said: "Al Riffa won’t run this weekend, he had a little hold up. We won’t take the chance on his first run of the year. We’ll wait a bit longer. He just had a small setback in training so this weekend will come a bit soon. We’ll target races later in the summer all going well."

Chaldean, an impressive winner of the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, remains among the entries but is expected to head straight to Royal Ascot.

It was confirmed in Monday's Racing Post that Newmarket runner-up Hi Royal has been given the green light by trainer Kevin Ryan for Saturday's feature race, while Aidan O'Brien's Paddington will also be high on punter's shortlists after his smooth success in Listed Tetrarch Stakes at the Curragh earlier this month.

Al Riffa impressed when landing a Curragh maiden last season, which encouraged connections to supplement him for the National Stakes and it proved a shrewd move as he landed Group 1 honours in emphatic style. The Irish 2000 Guineas was earmarked as his potential starting point from early on in this campaign but connections will be hoping the promising colt can pick up where he left off as a two-year-old later in the season.

Stablemate filly Above The Curve remains in the entries for the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup but also has the option of the Group 2 Prix Corrida at Saint-Cloud on Sunday, while Heritage Stakes winner Buckaroo could also be set to travel to France for the Group 1 Prix d'Ispahan at Longchamp next Monday.

Above The Curve (dark blue): could run in Sunday's Tattersalls Gold CupCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Above The Curve made her reappearance in the Group 2 Mooresbridge Stakes at the Curragh this month, finishing last of seven but only beaten five and a quarter lengths and connections will be hoping she can rediscover the form which brought victories in the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary and Group 2 Blandford Stakes.

O'Brien also has plenty of entries in the Irish 1,000 Guineas on Sunday, spearheaded by the Blue Wind Stakes one-two Caroline Street and Lumiere Rock and a decision on their participation will be made closer to the time.

O'Brien said: "Buckaroo is probably going to go for the Prix d’Ispahan in France. Above The Curve could run in the Tattersalls Gold Cup or she may run in a Group 2 in France. I think she will come on plenty for the run at the Curragh. I’m not sure what we’ll run in the 1,000 Guineas just yet, we will leave a few in and decide later in the week."

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