Rosallion looks for redemption in Irish 2000 Guineas

Rosallion found one horse better than he May 4 in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, but Saturday at The Curragh on Ireland, Rosallion is supposed to be the best horse.

Second in the Guineas after winning the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere to cap his 2-year-old campaign, Rosallion is set to face seven rivals in the Irish Guineas. Three of them are trained by Aidan O’Brien, and another, Haatem, is Rosallion’s Richard Hannon-trained stablemate.

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Absent from the race is the 2000 Guineas winner, Godolphin’s Notable Speech, who bested Rosallion by 1 1/2 lengths earlier this month in England. Rosallion traveled like a winner a quarter-mile from the finish of that straight mile but could not keep pace with Notable Speech through the final stages of an uphill finish while coming home 1 3/4 lengths better than third-place Haatem. Rosallion moves to a turning mile around gentle bends on Saturday but had no issue going around a turn at Longchamp in the Lagardere.

O’Brien’s trio all were in California for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. River Tiber was scratched from a race in which he was expected to be favored, but Unquestionable took care of business for Team O’Brien, winning by 1 1/2 lengths over the third O’Brien runner in the Irish Guineas, Mountain Bear. Mountain Bear was vanned off the course after pulling up badly and hasn’t started since, nor has Unquestionable. River Tiber’s most recent race came Sept. 30 in the six-furlong Middle Park.

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