Royal Scotsman supplemented for Saturday's Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh
Royal Scotsman has been supplemented for the Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh on Saturday.
Trained by Paul and Oliver Cole, the Gleneagles colt had a busy time at two, winning the Richmond Stakes and finishing second in the Dewhurst to Chaldean.
He once again found Andrew Balding’s charge too good in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket when a fine third after racing keenly in the early stages.
Alex Cole, racing manager for Fitri Hay, who owns Royal Scotsman, confirmed: “We have supplemented him, so fingers crossed.
“He seems in good form so we thought we’d roll the dice again.”
One place in front of Royal Scotsman at Newmarket was Kevin Ryan’s 125-1 outsider Hi Royal and the two are on course to clash again.
The fourth, Galeron, is also on target along with eighth-placed Charyn, while Knight could represent Simon and Ed Crisford.
Aidan O’Brien has three contenders, headed by Paddington, who could be joined by Cairo and Age Of Kings.
Donnacha O’Brien’s Group One-winning two-year-old Proud And Regal is also among the 12 contenders.
In the Greenlands Stakes, Charlie Hills’ Garrus could aim to follow up his Abernant win at Newmarket, with potential rivals including Michael O’Callaghan’s Twilight Jet in a field of nine.
In the Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas on Sunday, Dermot Weld holds a very strong hand in his attempt to follow up the victory of Homeless Songs last year.
He could field Tahiyra, a narrow second at Newmarket, and Tarawa, second in a Group Three on her return to action.
“We’ll make a decision about Tahiyra in the next day or two, but she’s most likely to run,” said Weld.
“It’s just like any other horse, you just want to check all the parameters out and if we’re happy with everything when the time comes, she runs. And right now, she’s most likely to run.
“The same applies with Tarawa. A decision will be made on her, if not tomorrow, then on Thursday. but she’s quite a possibility to run as well.
“We’re very happy with both fillies.”
Aidan O’Brien has four of the 11, headed by Breeders’ Cup winner Meditate. She could be joined by Dower House, Never Ending Story and the supplemented Jackie Oh.
Fozzy Stack also has a couple of options in Aspen Grove and You Send Me, while John Quinn’s Breege is a possible British raider.
Also on Sunday, Vadeni will line up in the Tattersalls Gold Cup after being supplemented at a cost of €45,000.
The four-year-old son of Churchill, who is owned and was bred by the Aga Khan, is trained in Pau, France, by Jean-Claude Rouget.
He won the Prix de Guiche, the Prix du Jockey Club and the Coral-Eclipse last season, having also been supplemented for the latter.
The bay was then third to Luxembourg in the Irish Champion Stakes and second by half a length to Alpinista in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, after which he began his season this time around in the Prix Ganay at ParisLongchamp and finished fourth of seven runners.
The Prince of Wales’s Stakes has been mentioned as a target for the first half of the colt’s season and as the Tattersalls Gold Cup falls neatly between the Ganay and the Royal meeting he has been added to the Group One at the Kildare track.
Georges Rimaud, the Aga Khan’s racing and breeding manager in France, said of the timing of the Curragh race: “There’s a logic to going and running in this race, that’s why we’ve chosen this one.
“Hopefully it will make good sense and he will perform well, I hear there’s no rain planned and we’re not really worried about the type of ground he is going to run on anyway. He has, in the past, liked this sort of fast-ish ground so he should be fine.
“The horse is doing well, he has improved from his last race. We are hoping for a good run from him, the ground should suit him.”
Vadeni is likely to face a familiar rival in Aidan O’Brien’s Luxembourg, with Sir Michael Stoute’s Bay Bridge, who finished in front of him in the Ganay, also entered.
“It should be a good race, it often is, but this is Vadeni and he is a Group One horse and should be campaigned at that level,” Rimaud said.
The Prince of Wales’s Stakes remains Vadeni’s target come June, though naturally the Irish trip needs to be considered a success for that plan to be pursued.
Rimaud said: “We’ll go a step at a time, that is part of the plan but each part of the plan needs to go well so we’ll see after the race.”
Vadeni’s entry at the Curragh makes matters easier regarding the next steps of last season’s Prix Daniel Wildenstein winner Erevann, who will go to the Prix d’Ispahan now it is not on the agenda for his stablemate.
Rimaud confirmed: “That is the plan, he’s going to run in the Prix d’Ispahan.”
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