Ante-post betting vagaries are once again highlighted

THAT 4-1 the Aidan O’Brien stable, offered by Cashmans for Saturday’s Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh, earlier in the week seemed a very fair price-at the time.

Because of the well-documented skirmish between Ballydoyle and the Racing Post, there was a virtual news blackout at Ballydoyle and we have all spent the last couple of days guessing as to what Aidan O’Brien’s intentions might be.

As a result, Cashmans obviously felt the proper way to price the 2000 Guineas was to lump the O’Brien possibilities together. The upshoot was that the 4-1 looked serious value.