Hans Andersen out to rival his namesake by writing his own 2,000 Guineas fairytale this season

Aidan O'Brien won all four runnings of the Ballylinch Stud 2,000 Guineas Trial between 2016 and 2019 with Ryan Moore on board for three of those victories and the pair rely on last season's promising juvenile Hans Andersen this time.

The son of Frankel got off the mark on his second start at the Curragh, where he showed a good attitude when making all over seven furlongs to beat subsequent Group 1 winner Al Riffa.

A good runner-up effort behind stablemate Aesop's Fables followed in the Group 2 Futurity Stakes before a creditable fifth in the National Stakes, where Al Riffa emphatically reversed the form.

Only the 82-rated Eyeeye has more experience than Hans Andersen, but the Ballydoyle colt has crucial exposure at Group 1 level and could be a tough nut to crack if handling the testing conditions.

O'Brien also saddles Carracci, who was an encouraging fifth on his debut in a big-field Curragh maiden before winning at Dundalk last November over seven furlongs. 

The third home that day, Shadowed, was an impressive winner last week, so the form looks to have a bit of depth to it.

Bold Discovery appears to be Hans Andersen's biggest danger. He finished last season with an admirable effort at this track in the Group 3 Killavullan Stakes, finishing third behind two subsequent winners.

The Jessica Harrington-trained colt's collateral form is proving extremely formidable as the second and third from his debut success have gone on to land maidens on their next start.

Bold Discovery and Hans Andersen have sought to make all during their races and are drawn beside each other in stalls six and seven, so the early pace dual could be pivotal.

John Murphy sends two of his promising three-year-old colts up from Cork and they have shown up very well in their respective maidens.

Signatory was second in a mile maiden at Dundalk on his debut back in January and drops in trip here having shown plenty of speed, while Sea Chariot landed a Dundalk maiden on his second start last month, despite looking quite green, and could take another big step forward.

What they say  

Jessica Harrington, trainer of Bold Discovery
Bold Discovery looked good last season and we are very happy with him. We’ll just have to see how he gets on to give us a guide as to where we go for the rest of the season.

Aidan O'Brien, trainer of Carracci and Hans Andersen
We are happy with Hans Andersen and he’s just ready to start back. We think he will stay much further than seven furlongs. We’ve been happy with his work and hopefully the ground won’t be too bad for him. Carracci won nicely at Dundalk and has progressed well over the winter. He has come on plenty for that win, but the ground mightn’t be ideal for him. Hopefully he can run a nice race.

George Murphy, assistant to John Murphy, trainer of Sea Chariot and Signatory
Sea Chariot won nicely at Dundalk and this is a big step up for him. He’s in great shape and that race didn’t take too much out of him. The ground is a bit of an unknown. Signatory was a little bit green first time at Dundalk but he has come on a lot for that. We'll have to keep an eye on the weather as the ground could be a big hindrance to him.

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