THE first classic weekend of the season in Ireland brought with it much to dwell on and of the many notable aspects of the weekend at the Curragh was the spread of winners over the two days.

The expectation is that elite fixtures such as this tend to see winners become more heavily concentrated rather than spread far and wide. However 16 races over the two days produced 13 different winning trainers and no one sent out more than two winners over the course of Guineas weekend.

Rather than reflecting on the action and the many meritorious efforts that took place there were a few standout moments with one very striking one coming after the 2000 Guineas on Saturday.

The guard of honour accorded to Rory Cleary by his weighroom colleagues upon his return to the parade ring on Mac Swiney was one of the most striking images seen on a racecourse for quite some time and it will unquestionably be one of the abiding memories of the 2021 season.

Cleary’s victory was a universally popular one and it’s not all that often that you get stories like this at an elite level in sport. The fact that his achievement in winning the Guineas led to such a notable and public outpouring of support from his fellow jockeys is testament to an extremely special result.

The following afternoon there was Noel Meade’s incredible feat in striking Group 1 gold with the €12,000 yearling Helvic Dream which came 21 years after the trainer last hit the board in a Group 1 – courtesy of Sunshine Street in the English St Leger.

Furthermore Helvic Dream’s triumph came a remarkable 43 years after Meade sent out Sweet Mint to win what is now the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot. In a career that has spanned the ages it is quite a feat on Meade’s part to make the breakthrough at the top level at this stage.

One could easily start listing off the various other notable accomplishments from the weekend beginning with Castle Star’s tour de force in the Marble Hill Stakes. Instead though the point is that there were some great performances and singular achievements which will abide with those who follow racing.

Attendance

However, it is fair to assume that had there been crowds in attendance the likes of the Rory Cleary reception and that for Helvic Dream and his trainer would have been quite special.

It is now just under a year since horse racing in Ireland returned behind closed doors and Tuesday week’s meeting at Roscommon will make it exactly 12 months since racing resumed at Naas on June 8th 2020. The fact that racing has been able to continue uninterrupted since then is something of a minor miracle and the efforts of all involved who have made this possible cannot be underestimated.

There is no doubt though that racing needs its customers back so badly. One quickly became attuned to the sterile and spartan nature of racing behind closed doors but last weekend’s action at the Curragh highlights quite acutely what racing is lacking. Its fans and customers are central to the sport, they are its soul and provide that tangible sense of anticipation that accompanies days like last Saturday and Sunday.

Hopefully it won’t be too long before members of the public can once again enjoy a sport that is much the poorer for taking place behind closed doors.

NEXT Saturday all eyes will be on Epsom for the Derby and this year’s renewal is shaping up to be quite an intriguing one. A recent discussion with a colleague sparked a look at some previous renewals of the Epsom classic.

The colleague in question remarked that they wouldn’t be at all surprised if High Definition were to do something similar to Erhaab in 1994 when Willie Carson came from out of the clouds on John Dunlop’s charge to defeat King’s Theatre.

A look back at the race earlier this week revealed quite what a feat Erhaab pulled off as the 1994 Derby attracted a staggering 25 runners and no other edition of the great race in the last 30 years has come close to matching that field size although Shaamit in 1996 and Kris Kin in 2003 both came home at the head of 20 runner fields. It is hard to imagine that we will ever see 25 horses in the Derby again.

The 1992 winner Dr Devious boasts a profile that seems remarkable compared to the path followed by Derby horses nowadays.

A runner-up in the Coventry Stakes at Ascot as a juvenile, he started off at three with defeats in the Greenham Stakes and the Kentucky Derby before he and St Jovite crossed swords at Epsom.

Maybe his profile for the race seemed as unusual then as it does now because in 2021 it looks wildly unorthodox.