Irish 1,000 Guineas betting with William Hill

The Irish 1,000 Guineas is one of the highlights of the Flat season and is the first fillies’ Classic of the season in Ireland.

The Group 1, 1m contest for three-year-old thoroughbreds takes play at The Curragh at the end of May, the day after the Irish 2,000 Guineas.

This prestigious race was created in 1922, 12 months on from the launch of the Irish 2,000 Guineas, and it’s now firmly established as one of the most important races of the Flat season.

Because the Irish 1,000 Guineas falls towards the end of the month, the field often includes some fillies that contested the English version earlier that month. Fillies that ran well at Newmarket will nearly always figure prominently in William Hill’s Irish 1,000 Guineas betting market.

Irish 1,000 Guineas betting tips

Irish 1,000 Guineas winners are nearly always impeccably-bred fillies who represent top connections.

The three Aidan O’Brien-trained winners of the race between 2011 and 2017 – Misty For Me, Marvellous and Winter – were all progeny of super-sire Galileo, whose offspring have such a sensational record in Classics. Don’t oppose progeny of Galileo lightly when studying the Irish 1,000 Guineas betting.

Guineas are rarely won by horses who barely stay a mile, in fact, they are often won by a horse bred to appreciate a stiffer test of stamina as they progress. A significant number of Irish 1,000 Guineas winners are immediately stepped up in trip for the English or Irish Oaks.

Irish 1,000 Guineas betting trends

No trainer in the modern era comes close to matching the record of Aidan O’Brien in Irish Classics and his runners are always hugely popular in William Hill’s Irish 1,000 Guineas betting lists.

O’Brien and his Irish counterparts have dominated the first fillies’ Classic, but English-trained winners are not unheard of. Clive Brittain, Luca Cumani, Mark Johnston and Mick Channon have all plundered this major prize since the turn of the century.

Winter justified very short odds when successful in 2017, but the Irish 1,000 Guineas hasn’t been a particularly happy hunting ground for favourite backers, with Happily (5/4), Minding (4/11), Found (5/4) and Homecoming Queen (11/8) all trained by Aidan O’Brien, but vanquished in recent years.

Irish 1,000 Guineas ante-post betting pointers

Irish 1,000 Guineas winners have a number of big-race options, not least the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, which is the most popular route for Curragh heroines.

2018 Classic winner Alpha Centauri was an unfancied 12/1 chance in the Irish 1,000 Guineas betting, but she burst onto the big-race scene with victory and she hit the headlines again when running out a sensational six-length winner of the Coronation Stakes the following month.

The Jessica Harrington-trained filly proved that was no fluke by following up in similarly impressive style in the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket’s July Festival.

Irish 1,000 Guineas winners will often need to step up in trip and although they don’t have long to recover, some of the more impressive winners have turned up at Epsom for a crack at the Oaks in early June.

If that race comes too soon, the Irish Oaks, back at The Curragh in July, is an obvious next target.

Irish 1,000 Guineas history and memorable winners

Few fillies have won the Irish 1,000 Guineas in such devastating style as Gossamer in 2002 and it was a major surprise that she was unable to add to that victory afterwards.

The Jamie Spencer-ridden filly cruised clear in the final furlong to win by a hugely impressive four-and-a-half lengths for trainer Luca Cumani.

Aidan O’Brien’s brilliant filly Winter won the 2017 edition by a similar margin to Gossamer, but she was able to go on and win more Group 1 races at Ascot (Coronation Stakes) and Goodwood (Nassau Stakes).

Imagine managed to do something very few fillies have ever done by following up her Irish 1,000 Guineas success with victory in the Oaks at Epsom in 2001.

Minding was an expensive failure in 2016, going off a 4/11 chance in Irish 1,000 Guineas betting, but she quickly made amends by turning up at Epsom two weeks later to win the Oaks under Ryan Moore.

Irish 1,000 Guineas 2021

Because the Irish 1,000 Guineas is for three-year-olds only, long-range clues come in the previous season’s juvenile division.

From this range, Aidan O’Brien unleashed a potentially smart filly called So Wonderful at Naas in April and she has a pedigree that suggests the mile trip of the Irish 1,000 Guineas will be right up her street next season.