Curragh a perfect haven for D'Arcy

Indian Haven justified the faith shown in him by trainer Paul d’Arcy as he landed the Entenmann’s Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh.

Supplemented into the race at a cost of €40,000 on Tuesday, the 8-1 chance secured a first prize of over five times that amount with a stylish success.

Followers of the colt who were hit hard when he suffered a nightmare passage during the British version of the Classic contest were rewarded for their loyalty as the gaps came at just the right time here.

And nobody was more delighted than winning rider John Egan, who celebrating his 35th birthday with a success he described as being “like a dream”.

Despite the presence of 16 runners, the race was run at only a steady pace as Great Pyramid – one of five representatives from the Aidan O’Brien stable – cut out the gallop.

Two furlongs out as the runners began to cross to the faster ground on the stands’ side of the track, half of the field were still in with a live chance.

But it was Indian Haven and Egan who quickened up better than anything else and shot clear on the stands’ rail to beat persistent challenger France (14-1) - the best of the O’Brien squad – by one length.

Tout Seul (5-1), fourth home in the Sagitta 2000 Guineas, went one place better, finishing two and a half lengths adrift of the front pair, while Saturn also improved by one on his Newmarket efforts and completed a virtual sweep of the placings for the British raiders.

Indian Haven is owned by d’Arcy’s landlords, Peter Gleeson, Julian Smith and Laurence Conway, who bought the Newmarket stables he moved into at the start of the season.

As a two-year-old, the colt was owned by a partnership which included d’Arcy’s previous landlord but when that syndicate was dissolved, Indian Haven was sent to last October’s Horses In Training Sales, where d’Arcy persuaded his new backers to step in at a cost of 95,000 guineas (€135,000).

“I am glad they took my advice,” he said. “He had an injury as a two-year-old – you can still see the quarter-crack – but I always knew he was a good horse and I told them so.

“I said after Newmarket that if the stalls had been placed in the centre I was sure he would have been in the first four.

“It was a lot of money to put the horse in the race but it’s not a gamble when you’re sure!

“I’m absolutely delighted – I always knew that he had a terrific turn of foot and he showed it when he came up the hill today.

“It will probably be the St James’s Palace Stakes for him next.”

The St James’s Palace Stakes is also the next target for Tout Seul, who again delighted his army of owners.

Cashmans issued opening prices on the Royal Ascot contest making Kempton scorer Kalaman 6-4 favourite.

In contrast, Indian Haven and Tout Seul are available at 7-1 and 10-1 respectively.

Saturn is now set to head for a Group Three at Chantilly in three weeks, with Michael Bell saying: “He is a solid horse and very game and genuine and he deserves to win a race now.”

The globe-trotting Egan was enjoying his second Classic success – his first coming in India.

But he had finished second on 50-1 chance Guided Tour on his only previous ride in the race in 1994 and this win proved an emotional occasion for the boy who grew up riding work on the Curragh before making his name as a rider overseas.

“He definitely would have won at Newmarket but I got knocked over four times and virtually pulled him up,” Egan.

“I was delighted when I saw the draw (stall three). I honestly thought we would win today. When I walked the track I knew I had to get over to the stands’ rail.

“The only Classic I have won before was in India and it has been like a dream to win one here.

“I did not want to get there too soon but when I asked him to quicken he picked up just as well as I knew he would.”

For the third consecutive year, Seamus Heffernan finished second on a horse trained by O’Brien.

But rather than chasing a better-fancied stablemate home, his mount France this time led home the team’s challenge with 100-30 favourite Tomahawk running a particularly poor race well in rear.

The O’Brien team had earlier been all smiles when Newton booked his ticket to Royal Ascot by landing the Isabel Morris Memorial Marble Hill Stakes.

The 100-30 chance appeared to be struggling to get past leader Holborn as Mick Kinane drove his mount up to challenge two furlongs out.

But suddenly the complexion of the race changed as British raider Holborn started to weaken and hot favourite Steel Light, who had been travelling menacingly behind the leaders, found less than expected when asked to go through a gap.

Newton, meanwhile, stayed on dourly to hold the challenge of Moon Unit by half a length with Steel Light a further three-quarters of a length back in third.

O’Brien nominated the Coventry Stakes as the next possible step for Newton, who is a son of the ill-fated stallion Danehill, who died earlier his month.

“Like most Danehills, he prefers fast ground but he coped well today,” said O’Brien.

“He was very green first time out but he improved for his second run and he has improved again today.

“You’d have to think about Ascot for him after that, probably the Coventry Stakes.”

Miss Emma caused a 14-1 upset when overturning odds-on favourite Captain Rio in the Weatherbys Ireland Greenlands Stakes.

The David Nicholls-trained 8-13 chance was all the rage in the betting ring and set a blistering gallop in the early stages of the six-furlong contest.

But the writing was on the wall a furlong from home for his supporters as Miss Emma swept past to score by four lengths.

The successful filly had only been added into the line-up for the Group Three contest at a cost of 7,500 euros at the supplementary stage during the week.

“We knew that she would have to finish third to pay for it,” said winning trainer Mick Halford, who was enjoying his first winner in a Group race.

“But she had been working well at home and we hoped she might run well. I thought she had wintered well but if the form of that is taken literally she has wintered even better than I thought!

“We will have to sit down and make a plan for her now – she has done all her winning with an ease in the ground but she has a very good action and I don’t think fast conditions would be a problem.”