Albigna Eyes Irish One Thousand Guineas Glory

As the Tattersalls Irish One Thousand Guineas (G1) at the Curragh looms June 13, Albigna is favored—and deservedly so.

Not only is Flaxman Holdings' homebred Zoffany filly the only group 1 winner in the field; she is the highest-rated runner and six pounds clear of everything on official figures. She has won twice at the Curragh and her trainer and jockey report her to be in rude health. She ticks more boxes than anything else.

But, as Shane Foley admits, she has her quirks and sometimes you do not know what to expect from Albigna. If she is on best best behavior and brings her 'A' game on her return from a 225-day absence, she will most likely provide Jessica Harrington with her second Irish One Thousand Guineas winner, two years after the awesome Alpha Centauri provided her first.

"She's in great shape and I'm looking forward to riding her," Foley said. "She's a very, very good filly, albeit she's a bit quirky and has her own thoughts sometimes but when she does put it together she's very, very good."

Peaceful appears to be the number one challenger from Ballydoyle with Seamie Heffernan on board. Thurles might be more associated with staying chasers ploughing through heavy ground, but the manner of her wide-margin maiden win there last October was very easy on the eye. The Galileo filly lost little in defeat in a listed race at Newmarket afterwards.

Despite being a maiden after eight starts, Kentucky-bred So Wonderful is the second highest-rated in the race with a mark of 108. She looked incredibly unlucky when a close-up third to Love in the Sept. 15 Moyglare Stud Stakes (G1), and her experience could stand her in good stead. The War Front  filly will get the generous gallop she craves, and she might prove the shrewdest each-way play.

"Everything has gone fine for Peaceful and she's a filly we've always liked," trainer Aidan O'Brien said. "We liked the way she hit the line and kept trying at Newmarket on heavy ground she wouldn't have liked. She'll enjoy this nice ground. We think she might get further after this.

"So Wonderful is very well and working lovely. She was a bit unlucky a few times last year and everything has gone well in the lead up to the race."

What a story it would be if Donnacha O'Brien won a classic just a few short months after his first runners as a trainer. Ireland's youngest trainer at the age of 21 has always spoken about the Deep Impact filly Fancy Blue in glowing terms.

She stormed home to land the Staffordstown Stud Stakes at the track last October, where she ironically beat Donnacha, who was riding runner-up A New Dawn. The worry for Fancy Blue is the trip, and you sense she will be even better when she steps up in distance.

"Everything has gone right for her over the last few weeks," the young trainer said of Fancy Blue. "She'll probably step up in trip after the Guineas and improve for it. She'll improve for the run too, but she's in good shape."

Donnacha's older brother Joseph O'Brien has a live contender in New York Girl, who also beat A New Dawn narrowly during her 2-year-old campaign. She was doing all her best work late there over seven furlongs so the step up to a mile is sure to suit.

Michael Halford is chasing his first Irish 1,000 Guineas victory with Ridenza, an impressive Leopardstown maiden winner in August who fractured her pastern in the process. She is back bouncing now and the impression she created on her sole appearance was a lasting one. She looks smart, but does she lack the experience to win a classic?

"She was unfortunate to fracture her pastern," Halford said. "She had surgery the next morning and her recovery has gone well. In an ideal world we'd have loved to get another run into her, but circumstances have prevented that. We've always liked her, she has a beautiful pedigree and shows us plenty."

This is a classic with a lot of ifs and buts. If Albigna is at her best she will be hard to beat but, if she isn't, there are any number of unexposed fillies ready to pick up the pieces.