TIME will tell, but this year’s Irish 1000 Guineas at the Curragh, looked an above average renewal and two fillies to take out of the race were Foxtrot Liv and Dean Street Doll, who finished a third and fifth respectively.

The latter is trained by Richard O’Brien, a filly who only won her maiden at Limerick on April 27th. After that, she finished second in the Group 3 Derrinstown Stud 1,000 Guineas Trial at Leopardstown, before finishing fifth in the classic, all in the space of 30 days.

She is on a short break at the moment, but O’Brien has a talented filly on his hands and one who can represent him well for the remainder of the campaign.

O’Brien’s yard was one of 30 that took part in the HRI Open Day and he had nothing but good things to say about the initiative.

“It was a very initiative and it was a lovely thing to have done and it’s something that I’d like to do again,” he said.

“We were amazed at the number of people that turned up and what was very nice was that some of them weren’t in a rush home. We’ll do the next one a little better – there is room for improvement, but overall, it was humbling to see the amount of people that turned up at our yard, which wouldn’t have a star name as such.

“We got great help from HRI, in particular from Caroline Townend and Amber Byrne. Some who attended, have expressed an interest in possibly getting involved with us and we hope to touch base with them before the yearling sales later in the year.

He added: “Personally for me, I just felt that it was a very important thing to do for racing to showcase what it does.

“Hopefully it will result in new owners getting involved, but it was great to see so many families here and it’s important for people to know that racing caters for everyone.

“The day itself may not result in new business for us, but I’d like to think that it would benefit racing as a whole and for me, that is as important as getting new owners into the game. If you get new fans, you might get new owners down the line and far as I was concerned, the morning was a big success.

O’Brien has adopted a more quality-over-quantity approach with regard to numbers at his Kilmihil base and added: “We started off with 32, but we are back down to around 22 now. It’s very hard to win here and I have no appetite for training horses who can’t compete, so we have trimmed our numbers back. We have the capacity to take more, but in my view, there is no point in keeping one that will struggle.

AMPESON | 2yo b g | Mayson – Surprise | | Frank J Lynch & Michael Hartnett Form: 0375

We have always liked him, but he has been disappointing. We ran him at Tipperary during the week and again, he disappointed us. He had a nice first run, so we’d like think that he is capable of better than that. He’ll go down the nursery route and I can see him getting six or seven furlongs.

BAREND BOY | 3yo b g | Oasis Dream - Scarborough Fair | Bar-End Boys Syndicate | Form: 060400

He has been struggling a little bit. He has what I think is an okay mark, but he has been falling between two stools. He has the ability to win a race or two, but he might benefit from a little break. Hopefully, he’ll win in the second half of the season. He is owned by a nice group of lads and I’d say he’ll be all the better for his break.

CAUTIOUS APPROACH | 4yo b f | Dawn Approach - Al Tamooh | Cautious Approach Syndicate | Form: 82-18338

I have been delighted with her. She won at Dundalk earlier in the year and she is on a little break after getting a bit chopped up in Killarney. She loves fast ground and she’ll be back at the end of June and a mile or a mile and two is her trip. There is definitely another race or two to be won with her and she is giving her owners a lot of fun.

O'Brien has been delighted Cautious Approach (pink hat) and has high hopes for her when she returns on fast ground at the end of the month \ Healy Racing

CHESSMAN | 5yo b g | Acclamation - Dulcian | Chessman Partnership | Form: 00P-6225

I have been delighted with him. He has been second in two listed races and I felt that he ran his race in the Group 2 Greenland Stakes, but it’s possible that it may have come a bit quick after his last run. He’ll go for a listed race on Derby weekend at the Curragh and will go pot hunting for the summer. We’ll stick to those listed/group races over six and he seems to handle most of types of ground.

Chessman (far side) has finished second in two listed races and will attempt to make it third time lucky at that grade on Derby weekend at the Curragh \ carolinenorris.ie

DIANTHUS | 4yo b f | Epaulette - Acts Out Loud | Clive Washbourn | Form: 1023-50

She has been a bit disappointing so far this season. She ended up having what was a very hard race on her first run of the year (at Gowran Park) and I thought I had her back for her second run, but I hadn’t. She has gone on a break and hopefully I’ll get her back to what she was. She should be back in three weeks. The talent is there and hopefully there is a nice race to be won with her later in the year.

GOLDEN VALOUR | 3yo b g | Kingman - Gracefield | Owner | Form: 9643-

He’s a nice horse that we bought earlier in the year. He went through a phase shortly after he arrived, in that he grew a winter coat and wasn’t showing very much for a few weeks, but he has settled into his new routine now and is really enjoying himself. He is a few weeks off a run and being by Kingman, that makes him exciting. He has some snippets of form and has the pedigree as well. Hopefully, he’ll be one to look forward to.

NOR’EASTER | 3yo b g | Dark Angel - Stormy Blessing | Christoper McHale | Form: 4-95

We really like him. I thought he’d have won his maiden by now, but upon reflection his two runs this season were very adequate. We have had him gelded and he is back in full training now. I’d be very hopeful that he’ll develop into an above average horse over a mile on nice ground. The best is yet to come from him.

PAPAL COUNT | 4yo b g | Mastercraftsman - Singing Bird | Christopher McHale | Form: 8-0730

He was third in a Limerick maiden and he went to Listowel last weekend and he didn’t seem to handle things down there. We’ll go for another handicap and I’d be pretty sure that he’ll leave that Listowel form behind.

SHARP DEFENCE | 5yo b g | First Defence - Jazz Drummer | M8, Koya, B Esdaile & L Honan Partnership | Form: 77-4244

He ran well on his first run for us at Naas, but he came back very sore after he was beaten on very fast ground at Hamilton. He is not that far off a run and he likes to be played late. He prefers a bit of juice in the ground.

THAT’S MAD | 3yo b g | Equiano - Wenden Belle | Mrs L Honan & B Sheerin | Form: 0-92039

He is a lovely sprinter. He has been placed twice in maidens and he has been a shade unfortunate as he has had a couple of very poor draws and at some tracks, that can be crucial. He is having a little break now and he’ll be a nice horse for the second half of the year. We might try him back in another maiden and I think he’s got a nice mark, so he has options.

UNDENIABLE FACT | 3yo ch f | Camacho - Ride For Roses | At Her Ease Partnership | Form: 099

She’s a lovely filly that has had her three runs and has a mark. She’ll go handicapping when she comes back from a little break and I’d love her to do a little job for the lads that own her. She’ll start back over seven and she isn’t that ground dependant, but I wouldn’t run her on rattling fast ground.

Two-year-olds

AU CLAIR DE LUNE |- f Sea The Stars ex Missunited | Dan & Vanessa Hutch

She only came to us recently but she had a nice bit done beforehand and is tipping away. Hopefully we’ll get a handle on her in a few weeks’ time, but she has a fantastic pedigree and it’s great to have one like her. I’d imagine that she’ll be one for the back end.

EIFFEL FLOWER | f Champs Elysees ex Floriade | Ian Marmion

She is one for the back end, and she’s a lovely filly that does everything right. I think plenty of her and she is a big, tall, leggy filly and is one for next year hopefully.

LOUGHER | f Teofilo ex Lightstream | Fealedepower Syndicate

She comes from a nice family and she shows us plenty. We had made an entry for her and she is very close to a run. Hopefully we’ll see her out in the next seven-furlong maiden. She has a couple of bits of work done and I’d be disappointed if she wasn’t capable of winning races.

c Camacho ex Lady of Beauty

He’s a real pocket rocket and he has loads of gears. He is around six weeks off a run and we like him.

f Maxios ex Sagacious

She had a nice bit done before she came and will be one for a seven-furlong/mile maiden later on this year. She goes well.

c Power ex Cozzene’s Angel

He is a tall, backward colt that has a nice bit done, but he is a good bit away from a run. I’d be hopeful that he’ll be out later in the year.

Dean Street Doll (nearest) burst onto the scene when winning a maiden at Limerick \ Healy Racing