Curragh winners brought similar profiles to bear on the Classic picture
Two additions to the list of Classic-winning Irish trainers made for a memorable Guineas weekend at the Curragh. Ken Condon's Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Romanised and Jessica Harrington's Irish 1,000 Guineas heroine Alpha Centauri presented a broadly similar profile, in several facets, not least in terms of the ups-and-downs of their careers. From early success at two, through a period when Classic honours seemed improbable, the two big-race winners have charted a similar course.
Taken together, the two wins reinforce the view, illustrated by Adrian Keatley's Irish 1,000 Guineas win with Jet Setting in 2016 and Kevin Prendergast's success with Awtaad in the Irish 2,000 Guineas the same year, that Ireland's Guineas races are by no means a closed shop.
At the same time, while the pair frustrated Aidan O'Brien's bid for a 12th Irish 2,000 Guineas triumph and eighth victory in the fillies' race, the Coolmore/Ballydoyle influence was still at the forefront.
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