'Very exciting horse' Paddington bears fruit for O'Brien in Irish Guineas

Aidan O’Brien extended his Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas record to an astounding 12, and winning rider Ryan Moore put a third win in the race on his CV, when Paddington took the season’s first Irish Classic on Saturday afternoon at a sun-soaked Curragh racecourse.

With a relatively modest rating of 105 but what we can generously assess as a progressive profile, the recent Tetrarch Stakes winner took his most sizable step forward yet to lead home a Ballydoyle one-two, completed by Cairo, who got up late to touch off long-time leader Hi Royal for the runner-up spot.

There was some post-race jeopardy when the stewards chose to take a look at some interference which occurred just outside the half-furlong marker between the winner and third. Hi Royal drifted left initially but the more marked move came from the challenging Paddington, who drifted back in on top of that rival.

Whether it cost the third a position or not is difficult to ascertain, but it is unquestionable that the winner was the best horse on the day. The well-backed 3-1 second favourite strode out impressively to the line to win with plenty of authority and thus, unsurprisingly, the placings remained unaltered.

Market leader Royal Scotsman was the disappointment of the race as he was never much better than midfield and unable to muster a telling effort at any stage of the race.

Explaining the winner’s career progression which led to this Classic success, O’Brien said: “We went to Ascot first time with him, and he was very babyish, but he came back and won a maiden very easily, with Seamus (Heffernan), and he wintered very well.

“We were very happy with him in the spring, and he ended up in the Madrid (Handicap, Naas) on a lovely mark. It was a lovely place to start him, over seven furlongs, even though the ground was soft.

“Then he came back here and won the Tetrarch on soft ground again, so we weren’t really sure about the ground with him today. Obviously, he’s a Siyouni out of a Montjeu mare and he was always a beautiful mover but you’re never sure until they do it.

“He’s a fine, big horse, maturing very well, and Ryan gave him a brilliant ride. He was a little bit slow away, but Ryan got his position very quickly on him, and didn’t light him up to do it.

“Ryan was very impressed with him. He’s a very exciting horse."

Thinking further ahead, O'Brien sees the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, a race he has won a record eight times but not since 2019, as the next step for the winner.

“What we always do is we go home and give them a week or ten days, and the lads discuss it with Ryan and everybody else and decide what to do with him. It looks like the natural progression for him. He doesn’t look short of speed, even though he looks as though he will get further in time.” With the English 2000 Guineas second, third and fourth all well held on Saturday, Paddington may get his chance to lower the colours of the Newmarket winner, Chaldean, at Ascot, though the bookmakers favour that rival in the early exchanges of the ante-post market.

It could be a great weekend for the winner’s sire, Siyouni, should Tahiyra justify odds-on favouritism in Sunday’s Irish 1000 Guineas.