Grey Swallow has a length to find on his big rival for Boylesports Irish 2,000 Guineas glory Azamour but it could be worth betting that he gets it and more.
Both colts, third and fourth to Haafhd in the Newmarket Guineas, look to dominate the first Irish Classic of the season which will carry a touch of local rivalry to match its international significance.
Dermot Weld and John Oxx run the two main training yards at Headquarters with little more than today's Classic mile separating them. Both will also feel that the 2,000 Guineas owes them something.
Oxx is not someone to lose sleep over the 2,000 being the one gap in his Irish Classic CV but he has already admitted this week that Azamour is his best ever shout of filling it.
The Aga Khan-owned colt did best of the Irish at Newmarket but Azamour looked noticeably well in the paddock before that race and it may be that there isn't all that much improvement to come from him.
In contrast, Weld made no secret of the fact he considered the English race to have come a week too soon for Grey Swallow so the grey's running-on fourth was a fine effort in the circumstances.
It's 18 years since Weld scored his only 2,000 Guineas winner to date with Flash Of Steel but confidence appears to be growing that Grey Swallow can become the second.
The concern in the build-up has been the state of the ground which remains "good to firm" with watering continuing at the track for the last few days.
Weld briefly nominated the Prix Jean Prat as an alternative target if the going got too fast but that fear appears to have evaporated.
Yesterday Weld reported: "Everything has gone well since Newmarket and I'm satisfied with Grey Swallow's progress in the last three weeks. He worked well last Saturday and I'm happy with him."
In contrast to the big two, Aidan O'Brien will win the race for a fith time if Grand Reward or Newton comes out on top. Grand Reward has been the each-way gamble of the week but a place does look the limit of his talent.
Brian Meehan has his first ever runner in an Irish Classic with Leitrim House who easily beat Grand Reward in the Tetrarch and Bachelor Duke is the other cross-channel raider.
However, it will be a disappointment if this Guineas leaves the country and Grey Swallow, the top juvenile of last season, can fulfill his classic potential on his home patch.
Soviet Song will surely never get a better winning chance since her Group One victory as a two-year-old than in the Ridgewood Pearl Stakes. Godolphin's Echoes In Eterntity should come on for her first start of the season at Newmarket but probably not enough.
Gary Stevens returns to race riding in Ireland for the Greenlands Stakes mount on Arakan and the Stoute horse looks the most likely to come out on top in the Group Three sprint.
Arakan was a decent third to Monsieur Bond in the Duke Of York Stakes and should appreciate the quicker ground against the Oxx-trained Hanabad who was successfully transformed into a smart sprinter towards the end of his three-year-old career.
Just four line up for the Marble Hill Stakes, the race that traditionally pinpoints the top Irish juvenile going into Royal Ascot. Aidan O'Brien's Joyce won well on his debut but there appears little doubt that his stable companion Russian Blue is the best we have seen out so far this term.
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