The Curragh betting with William Hill

The Curragh is the home of Irish thoroughbred Flat racing and is steeped in history, having staged racing since 1741. It’s home to all five Irish Classics and is widely regarded as the epicentre of Flat racing in Ireland.

The racecourse, situated on the Curragh plain in County Kildare, underwent a major redevelopment of its grandstand and other facilities between 2017 and 2019.

As well as being a racecourse, The Curragh is also a training centre with approximately 1,500 acres of training facilities. In addition to 70 miles of turf gallops, there are around 12 miles of peat gallops and eight all-weather tracks for trainers to exercise their horses on.

This world-famous racecourse has provided a platform for many of the greatest names ever to grace the sport, with stars like Nijinsky, Montjeu, Galileo, High Chaparral and Dubawi all having won Group 1 prizes at this track.

The Curragh betting – the big meetings/races

There are 10 Group 1 races held at The Curragh each season, five of which are the Irish Classics – the 1,000 Guineas, 2,000 Guineas, Irish Oaks, Irish Derby and Irish St Leger. The Curragh betting is some of the most competitive of any racecourse in the world.

The track’s two-day May meeting stages both Guineas races, as well as the highly-prestigious Tattersalls Gold Cup, a Group 1 contest over 1m2f for older horses. This has been won by some truly great horses, including Daylami, Montjeu and Fantastic Light.

It’s a race, like so many at The Curragh, in which Aidan O’Brien has a fantastic record and his runners always need major respect in William Hill’s Curragh betting.

The Irish Derby is the centrepiece of The Curragh’s three-day June meeting, but there is also Group 1 action on the Sunday when fillies and mares take centre stage in the Pretty Polly Stakes. This is a fantastic Curragh betting contest that has proved a happy hunting ground for English trainers in recent years.

The Moyglare Stud Stakes and Vincent O’Brien Stakes are the two big Group 1 two-year-old races staged at the track before the final Classic of the season, the Irish St Leger, brings the curtain down on The Curragh’s star-studded season.

The Irish St Leger, run on the Sunday of Champions weekend in September, is always a huge Curragh betting event and is a race that has been lit up by the likes of Vinnie Roe, who won the race four times consecutively from 2001, and Brown Panther, who won the race for former England striker Michael Owen in 2014.

The Curragh odds – impact on ante-post betting for future races

The Curragh has a bigger impact on ante-post betting than any other racecourse in Ireland.

It stages 10 Group 1 races and a whole host of other Pattern-class contests that all have knock-on effects on further big prizes later in the season.

The big autumn two-year-old races, the Moyglare Stud Stakes for fillies and Vincent O’Brien Stakes for colts, both 7f events, have a major bearing on ante-post Guineas markets especially if the winner is trained by Aidan O’Brien.

The Irish Derby winner would nearly always be a mover in William Hill’s ante-post Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe betting, as well as races like the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot and possibly the Juddmonte International at York, if they look to have the speed to cope with dropping back to 10f.

The Irish Oaks winner will often head to York for the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks before having a crack at the Arc, in which they get a crucial sex and age allowance.

2018 Irish Oaks winner Sea Of Class failed by the narrowest of margins to reel in Enable in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at the end of the season.

The winner of the Irish St Leger Trial Stakes in August will nearly always be a major mover in The Curragh betting lists for the main event later in the season.

Because the Irish St Leger is open to older horses, its impact on future races depends largely on the profile of the winner. If it’s won by a progressive three-year-old stayer, then a race like the Ascot Gold Cup would become an obvious target the following season.

The Curragh course characteristics

The Curragh is a right-handed horseshoe-shaped track that has two round courses – the Plate and Derby. It’s regarded as galloping in nature due to its sweeping bends and slightly uphill home straight.

There’s a separate straight course for races over 1m, 7f, 6f and 5f.

There’s a gradual camber from the stands rail to the far side on the straight course, which means ground conditions on the stands’ rail are often a bit drier, favouring horses drawn high.

However, the rail is often moved closer to the middle of the course, in which case the draw becomes much less of a factor.

There doesn’t appear to be any major draw bias on the round course, although runners from the 1m4f start are on a slight right-hand turn from an early stage, so those drawn high need to get a good early position otherwise they can be trapped wide around the turns, which is a disadvantage.

The Curragh betting tips

The uphill finish at The Curragh means that horses have to stay well, very well. With that in mind, try and focus on horses who have either won over further or have won at the same trip, but on an equally stiff track when assessing Curragh betting odds.

Don’t be in a rush to oppose whatever Aidan O’Brien runs – his record at the track is sensational, even more so when Ryan Moore is doing the steering.

Having said that, Donnacha O’Brien is an emerging force at Ballydoyle and the trainer’s son often gets to ride the number-one hope in big races at The Curragh nowadays.

Whoever is doing the steering, Aidan O’Brien’s record in two-year-old races at the track is nothing short of incredible.

Ger Lyons and Colin Keane are also a partnership that show a profit when teaming up at The Curragh.

Watch out too for horses trained by National Hunt star Gordon Elliott. His Flat string is growing in quantity and quality, as emphasised by Beckford’s success in the 2017 Railway Stakes.

Epsom form is a good pointer to Irish Derby or Oaks success. Horses who ran well in the Derby or Oaks at Epsom often go on to repeat the feat at The Curragh, despite the very different nature of the tracks.

The Curragh racecourse – how to get there

The Curragh is just a short drive south of Dublin. From the town centre, take Exit 9 off the M50 onto the N7 southbound. Take Exit 12 off the M7 and that takes you direct to the racecourse, which is well signposted. There is ample free car parking.

There are mainline trains from Heuston Station (Dublin), Waterford, Cork, Limerick and Galway with a complimentary shuttle bus from the station to the racecourse. There’s an admission concession available with valid train tickets.

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