Soccer

Charlie Appleby's Native Trail on track for Irish 2000 Guineas

Charlie Appleby's Native Trail was touched off by stablemate Coroebus in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket but is going it alone in the Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh on Saturday, May 21.

Charlie Appleby's Native Trail will bid to go one better than his Newmarket 2000 Guineas second as he heads to the Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas on Saturday, May 21 at the Curragh.
Oasis Dream Colt Native was beaten three quarters of a length by stablemate Coroebus at HQ and Appleby will be hoping that his Godolphin charge who goes it alone in Ireland, will get the job done.

Native Trail is likely to go off the odds-on favourite for the mile test with bookies wary of the power of the Appleby operation for the boys in blue.

11 runners are due to go to post at The Curragh, with Jospeh O'Brien's Cazoo Epsom Derby entrant Buckaroo second the in the market after a simple course and distance victory in the Coolmore Arizona Irish EBF Tetrarch Stakes earlier this month.
O'Brien's father Aidan, an 11 time winner of the Irish 2000 Guineas, naturally has a runners of his own with the consistent Ivy League looking to build on a second in the Group 3 Leopardstown Amethyst Stakes.
Ballydoyle's other runner is three-year-old Churchill colt The Acropolis, who contested the Emirates Poule d'Essai des Poulains at ParisLongchamp but could finish no better than ninth.
Legendary Irish trainer Jim Bolger could have one coming under the radar in Wexford Native, who clinched second late on in the Tetrach Stakes and could come on for the run.
Jim Bolger also sends Teofilo colt Boundless Ocean who tailed off the in the English 2000 Guineas but can be expected to come on for the experience following a maiden win at Leopardstown.

Of course, Bolger's Mac Swiney won the Irish 2000 Guineas a year ago so Bolger knows all there is to know about readying a horse for the test.

Meanwhile,Ger Lyons' Atomic Jones, Duke De Sessa of Dermot Weld, Malex of Michael O'Callaghan and Sheila Lavery's New Energy top off the potential Irish 2000 Guineas field.

The Irish 2000 Guineas takes places at the Curragh racecourse in Ireland, some 50km from Dublin, on Saturday, May 21. The Group 1 race happens over a mile with €285,000 for the winner. The race is live on ITV 4 and gets going at 15.20.

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