Ruby Walsh: Value for money or a long day? Why the Curragh needs to get with the times

Aidan O’Brien's Gstaad is a strong favourite for the 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh on Saturday Photo: Pic: INPHO/Morgan Treacy

This afternoon, the Irish Guineas weekend kicks off at the Curragh a day later than it did 12 months ago, and for my money, that is a good idea. Last year's Friday card was moved to Good Friday, which didn't go down well in some quarters, but after everybody put their toys back in the pram and the meeting got the green light, it proved a roaring success. There is no doubt that on-course bookmakers helped the day by sponsoring the gate, but there is every chance that the bumper Good Friday crowd could exceed the turnout for the much classier action on offer this afternoon.

I fully understand the value of media rights income for racecourses and do not doubt that revenue generated this afternoon from the far east through World Pool betting is vitally important to the bottom line for the Curragh’s coffers. However, I still get overwhelmed when I open the cards for these days, and nine races stare me in the face. Where do you start to pick through the races to find the ones you want to be with, and if you are going, do you go for the first and stay for the last? The action will run over four hours and 35 minutes, but the actual action time will be around 15 minutes. And as entertaining as Gstaad could be in the 2000 Guineas, the extra 70 minutes that races one and two or eight and nine take make for long days. Perhaps some see it as value for money because the entrance fee is not charged per race, but merging the off-course demands with the on-course experience is something racing as a whole needs to master. Naas ran its eight-race card last Sunday in three and a half hours, and you could feel the difference in the crowd that a race coming every 30 minutes made.

It was engaging and entertaining, and while five minutes seems like nothing, it becomes something when you multiply it by seven and end up with 35 minutes of empty time. I also understand that logistically, Naas is perfectly set up to hit the 30-minute turnarounds, but with some effort and a bit of thought, the Curragh could too. It would require participants to play ball, and the IHRB to alter its weighing-out procedures and adapt the rules used in Japan and available in the UK, but racing has to catch up with the world we live in. People want entertainment; they want it now, and they need action. Empty parade rings and idle time may suit those watching from afar, but unatmospheric, static venues also lack appeal, and those watching have to see something they feel they should be at. FOMO exists, and racing has to get it back.

On the track this weekend, the Curragh does have a very good line-up, with a decent scattering of group, listed, maiden and handicapped races spread across the two days' action. Saturday's Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas is probably the Marquee race. Still, Sunday's Tattersalls Gold Cup and Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas won't fall into its shadow, and there is little doubt that Ballydoyle will be expecting a bumper weekend. Gstaad found Bow Echo too good for him at Newmarket earlier in the month, but the fact that he pulled 10 and three-quarter lengths clear of Distant Storm in third will make him a very short-priced favourite in today's 2000 Guineas and in all honesty, he is impossible to oppose. 

Still, with 10 declared runners set to line up, there are other angles to this contest if one is trying to turn a profit, and Alsparslan, who likes an ease and won the Geenham, is one possible for the forecast or betting without the favourite. The other one at a bigger price who could get involved is Johnny Murtagh's Take Charge Star. He got no run in the Tetrarch Stakes behind Causeway, who will win the Galinule today at 4.15, here earlier in the month. Causeway is stepping up to 10f’s today but could very easily have lined up in the Guineas and hit the frame, so I think there is a credible line of form for giving Take Charge Star a live outsiders chance.

Aiden won’t have things all his own way today, though, and Joesph O Brien could get on the scoreboard in the Orby Stakes at 1.55. Dermot Weld will have the likely favourite in Pureview, but Nyra and Trustyourinstinct will give him plenty to think about, and I think the latter is cracking each-way value. The Keadeen Handicap at 2.30 is wide open. Still, I think Paddy Toomey has been very shrewd in booking Nicola Burns for Iowa City, and her 5lb claim can help this Ballylinch-owned filly to make a mark on her handicap debut. Donnacha O Brien won’t want to be the odd one out in the O'Brien household, and his Comanche Brave could land him the Greenland’s at 3.05.

Sunday's card has the headline act of Minnie Hawk, and while she won’t make any of us rich at the odds she will start at, she is worth watching. For the sport, it is great she has stayed in training and with Daryl making waves in France, it is great to think we have a filly capable of taking him on. Ascot and York could be the main beneficiaries of that clash, but Leopardstown in September could be the showdown for a rematch or the trilogy. And speaking of a rematch, that is what we have in the 1000 Guineas tomorrow at 4.30. True Love and Precise will go at it again, and while True Love was totally dominant at Newmarket, Aidan O Brien has been adamant that Ryan Moore would have a tough decision to make in splitting the pair. Ryan has gone with the form book and jumped off Precise and onto True Love, which is perfectly understandable, bar Aiden suggesting otherwise.

There is little doubt he will have pondered that decision for quite a while, but picking Great Barrier Reef in Marble Hill would have been an easy decision for him. Sun Goddess can get himself and Aidan off to a flier in the opener at 1.45, and Willie Mullins might come to the party late with Stormheart in the 5.40. Who looks well in off a mark of just 82.