RACING: Aidan O'Brien's confirmation that George Washington will appear next in the Boylesports Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh looks like insuring the charismatic colt will be one of the hottest favourites for an Irish Classic in modern history.
The Ballydoyle team are also set to run Sunday's French Guineas runner-up Marcus Andronicus at the Curragh on Saturday week, but just as at Newmarket earlier in the month all eyes will be on George Washington.
The big-race sponsors already make the triple Group One winner a 2 to 7 favourite to emulate the 2002 victor Rock Of Gibraltar and complete the English and Irish Guineas double. Rock Of Gibraltar was a 4 to 7 favourite at the Curragh four years ago, the same price as Barathea in 1993, but George Washington could easily start the strongest Guineas favourite in years and continue the Classic hot-streak enjoyed by O'Brien and jockey Kieren Fallon.
The team are at York this afternoon, where the 4 to 1 Oaks favourite Alexandrova has her Epsom warm-up in the Group Three Musidora Stakes. However, bookmakers are already bracing themselves for another Guineas assault by "Gorgeous George", who will be expected to provide O'Brien with a fifth success in the race.
"We were 2 to 5 in the morning, but then we had plenty of interest, including a €10,000 bet and plenty of €5,000 bets, and he is now 2 to 7," said Boylesports spokesman Paul Magee.
"We have also had consistent support for Decado, but we can see a situation where only four or five take on George Washington and a couple of them might be his stable companions," he added.
However, history also throws some crumb of comfort to the layers as the hottest Irish Classic favourite of all, Dimenuendo in the 1988 Oaks, could only dead-heat with Melodist at odds of 2 to 9.
Yesterday Boylesports announced they are extending their sponsorship of the Guineas races for another two years until 2008. The company began their sponsorship at the Curragh in 2004 and will sponsor eight other races as well as the Guineas.
With Fallon again busy abroad, Séamus Heffernan gets another chance to make hay at home tonight, where he will ride the Ballydoyle hope Sacrosanct in the Group Three Blue Wind Stakes at Naas.
Heffernan won both Classic trials at Leopardstown on Sunday for O'Brien, but Sacrosanct looks to have a big task on her plate this evening against four older horses and a possible Classic prospect in the unbeaten Galatee.
Jim Bolger's filly won at 10 to 1 on her course and distance debut here last month, and then followed up with a Stakes win over Helena Molony at Gowran Park. The Irish Oaks has been mooted as a possible target for Galatee, but she will have a tough task here against the former Moyglare winner Chelsea Rose and John Oxx's Allexina.
The recent wet spell will boost the chances of the Oxx filly, who has had a run already this season behind Mubtaker at Newbury and who will also be just the sort of battle-hardened type to test how good Galatee is.
Heffernan could have better luck on one of the lesser Ballydoyle lights, Rol'over Beethoven, who does have the benefit of two runs this season and drops back in trip for the six-furlong handicap.
O'Brien has a pair of Sadler's Wells newcomers lined up for the mile-and-a-quarter maiden, with Heffernan on board Magicalmysterytour, but it may be best to rely on Rockall Blizzard.
