Those are pretty depressing ratings. You'd have to figure Ireland could sweep the board on Saturday. I don't know the official Irish ratings but de-adjusting RPRs from the card puts their entries on:
Are the ratings really that important?
There's only 6Lb between the top rating and the 8th.
Pinatubo went into the race off an official rating of 128 last year, he finished the season on 121, which in hindsight was nearer his true mark.
Kameko went into the race off 118 and finished the season on 122, improved 4Lb, Wichita improved 4Lb too from a mark of 114. Pinatubo on the other hand had obviously reached his zenith the previous season, and he dropped 7Lb from his over-exaggerated official rating. He was obviously a very precocious 2-year-old, way ahead of the others, where some were not only behind him in maturity but were yet to reach their own full development. The mile was probably the upper limit of Pinatubo's stamina too!
This race has all the same question marks.....
In recent years a lot of 2,000 guineas winners never won again, some moved up in distance, some dropped down, some had not stopped maturing. It's not called the final 2-year-old race of the season for nothing, the difference here is; some have been freshened up and allowed to mature for several months. Many of the best horses have been beaten through, the draw, the pace or lack of it, stamina or lack of it. This race will be no different, as the betting would suggest.
It's a very intriguing contest this year, as with most 2,000 guineas, most of the principles already have, if's, what's, and maybe's in their locker. The race will most likely split into 2 maybe 3 small races on their own and this will inevitably prove to be a key component in cracking the code.
Aiden Obrien 1, 2, 3, for me....But in what order...Forget the ratings, they are and have proved in the past to be, meaningless in a race that's run 7 months late!
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