Alparslan, Hero Queen & Wild Blossom

Alparslan “Not A One Trick Pony” Facing Gstaad In Irish 2,000 Guineas

The Karl Burke stable is a major Group 1 player nowadays and this weekend at the Curragh the trainer and his team will attempt to land another Irish classic, with Alparslan tackling the G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas and Hope Queen a possible for the G1 Irish 1,000 Guineas.

Ireland’s champion trainer Aidan O’Brien has been preeminent in the Curragh Guineas since the late 1990s – 11 wins in the 1,000 and 12 in the 2,000 – but Burke sent the grey Fallen Angel to win the Irish 1,000 Guineas two years ago. The five-year-old mare was beaten at York last week, but might yet make a quick backup on Sunday in the G2 Lanwades Stud Stakes.

But it is Alparslan who will carry stable hopes in the Irish 2,000 Guineas on Saturday against O’Brien’s Gstaad et al. Gstaad is the likely favourite after his second in the G1 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, behind the brilliant Bow Echo – absent this time – but well clear of the rest.

Alparslan sidestepped Newmarket, but won his first two starts last year, including second-up at the Curragh, then was sixth in Britain’s top two-year-old contest, the G1 Dewhurst Stakes.

The bay returned this spring under Clifford Lee, battling to a make-all win in the G3 Greenham Stakes over seven furlongs. Burke’s assistant trainer and son-in-law James Cowley believes Alparslan has progressed since.

“Before the Greenham, he’d always been a lazy horse in his work and never wanted to really excel on the gallops, he always saves it for when he gets to the business end on race day, which is nice,” Cowley told Idol Horse. “But I think he definitely took a step forward this year in the Greenham over seven and he seems to stay out the seven really well.

“I know Cliff dictated the race in front but he had a smart field behind him, so if he can bring that form and take a step forward, hopefully we go in there with a live chance, especially if the ground is a little bit on the softer side. Any rain would be beneficial to him on race day.”

One unknown for Alparslan is the mile distance, a furlong beyond what he has experienced. Being a son of Dandy Man, whose best progeny are the high-class sprinters Peniaphobia, Big Time Baby and Happy Romance, his stamina is not guaranteed.

“It’s a stiff mile at the Curragh and he won’t be able to dictate the Guineas as he dictated the Greenham,” Cowley said. “But there’s nothing saying that he needs to lead or anything like that. He’s not a one trick pony in that respect, he does like to be on the front end but he is quite versatile in the way he can win his races. So as long as they go a nice even gallop, then it’ll be a case of he either does stay or he doesn’t.”

Burke had a clutch of classy fillies entered for the Irish 1,000 Guineas on Sunday, including the English 1,000 Guineas runner-up Evolutionist and last year’s G1 Prix Morny winner Venetian Sun. But that pair will aim elsewhere.

“Karl and the owners will decide, but I think the plan is the Prix de Diane with Evolutionist, we’re going to step up to a mile and a quarter,” Cowley said. “And then Venetian Sun runs in the Sandy Lane (over six furlongs at Haydock) on Saturday. She didn’t get the mile at all in the Guineas, so she’ll go back to sprinting and hopefully we can see her back to her best on Saturday.”

That leaves the unbeaten Hope Queen as the one the stable might rely on. The Night Of Thunder filly has raced just twice and the second of those was the Listed Star Stakes at Sandown, but that was 10 months ago.

“She won both starts impressively and then just had a couple of little niggles for the rest of the year,” Cowley said. “It is a massive step up, a bit of a run into the unknown, so if she runs a good solid race, then I think all connections will be happy.”

She might find herself up against the O’Brien stable’s English 1,000 Guineas winner True Love and G1 Fillies’ Mile heroine Precise.

The Curragh action also features last year’s Oaks heroine and G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe second Minnie Hauk in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup over 10 furlongs.

This Week In Horse Racing History

On May 18, 1968, trainer Judy Johnson sent Sir Beau to post for the Preakness Stakes and so became the first woman to saddle a horse in the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown. Sir Beau was seventh of 10 behind Calumet Farm’s Forward Pass.

Seventeen years later, on May 18, 1985, the first female jockey went to post for the Preakness. Patricia Cooksey rode Tajawa to finish sixth behind Tank’s Prospect.

There was a thriller in the Yushun Himba at Tokyo on May 23, 2010 when Apapane and Saint Emilion hit the line together. The judge could not split the pair and announced a dead-heat, the first time that result had been called in a Japanese Grade 1 race. Apapane had already won the first classic, the Oka Sho and would go on to complete the Triple Tiara in the Shuka Sho, in which Saint Emilion was last of 18.

Idol Horse Reads Of The Week

Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Jose Ortiz speaks to David Morgan about his deep roots in his hometown of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, his lifetime immersion in horse racing culture and the importance of family, friends and neighbours in his journey to the top of the sport. 

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This week’s Idol Thoughts column is a special one as Shane Dye shares his inner thoughts about the fall that nearly killed him, how that changed things and why it was the best thing that happened to him.

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Santa Anita Park in California held its latest Umamusume: Pretty Derby cosplay event last weekend so what better time to look back at this Idol Horse feature from February, charting the phenomenon’s global spread.

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Racing Photo Of The Week

Date
17 May, 2026

Photographer
@Jordan_Jorvon

Location
Tokyo Racecourse

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Global Blackbook

There was a bit of wow factor this week about Carlisle’s first race of the 2026 flat season, with the Karl Burke-trained Wild Blossom streaking away from her three rivals to win by 10 lengths. It’s rare to see a juvenile win with such ease first-up and whilst caution against hyperbole is the first thought, last year the stable’s Venetian Sun won this race before winning the G3 Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot and subsequently the G1 Prix Morny. And, dare we say it, the manner of Wild Blossom’s win did revive memories from spring 2003, of the time another filly trained in North Yorkshire, Attraction, won by five lengths first-up at similarly low-key Nottingham before going on to win the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot and five Group 1 races thereafter. 

Wild Blossom has a long way to go if she is to come close to Attraction’s race record, but the first step was impressive and jockey James Doyle said post-race: “She’s very speedy, she has a good temperament, she’s very adaptable and I was happy there to kind of get a lead and ride her to finish … she’s quick, for sure.”

Wild Blossom is out of a modest maiden but her dam’s half-brother is the Group 1-winning miler Bayside Boy. The Wathan-owned filly was one of three debutants in the Carlisle race but the runner-up, race favourite Crownbreaker, had shown something in her one previous start when a close third in an eight-runner novices’ stakes at Newmarket a couple of weeks ago.

CLASSY 🌬️

300,000gns Breeze-Up buy Wild Blossom follows in the footsteps of stablemate Venetian Sun in winning at Carlisle en route to what is surely a crack at the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot.

Not many 2yo's win by 10 LENGTHS on debut! 👀

🟦🟧🟥 @karl_burke pic.twitter.com/qsanqpU9DF

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) May 18, 2026

World Horse Racing Calendar: What’s Coming Up

Irish 2,000 Guineas Day
Curragh, Ireland, May 23

With Bow Echo not attempting to add the Irish classic to his mightily impressive win in the English 2,000 Guineas last time, those behind at Newmarket will get their chance. G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Gstaad was second that day and Godolphon’s Distant Storm third. Gstaad’s trainer Aidan O’Brien also has the two-time Group 1 winner Puerto Rico prominent in the market as he aims for a 13th win in the race.

Champions & Chater Cup Day
Sha Tin, Hong Kong, May 24

Romantic Warrior will face Japanese raiders Rousham Park and Deep Monster in an attempt to complete the Hong Kong Triple Crown. But only two horses have ever achieved the feat and Romantic Warrior will have to stretch to 2400m, a distance he has attempted only once before, when a neck second in this race three years ago. 

Tattersalls Gold Cup
Curragh, Ireland, May 24

Last year’s Derby winner Lambourn returned to winning form last week at Chester, albeit in workmanlike fashion, and he holds an entry to this race, as does his Aidan O’Brien-trained stablemate Minnie Hauk. The latter, a Triple Oaks winner last year and second in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, won first-up in the G2 Mooresbridge Stakes. 

Irish 1,000 Guineas 
Curragh, Ireland, May 24 

Last weekend’s French 1,000 Guineas winner Diamond Necklace holds an entry in this but could be routed to the G1 Prix de Diane. That leaves her stablemate True Love, winner of the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket, as the O’Brien team’s likely pick. The trainer has won the Irish 1,000 Guineas 11 times, including last year with Lake Victoria. Meanwhile, the Karl Burke-trained Evolutionist could seek revenge on True Love after finishing second to her at Newmarket.

Oaks Day
Epsom, England, June 5

Bridget won the first running of the Oaks at Epsom Downs in 1779, a year before the Derby came along, and she was owned by the Earl of Derby after whom that other great race is named. Aidan O’Brien’s Amelia Earhart is a prominent protagonist after her win in the Listed Cheshire Oaks last time, while Legacy Link, trained by John and Thady Gosden, threw her hat in the ring with victory in the G3 Musidora Stakes at York. 

Derby Day
Epsom, England, June 6

The first Derby the world ever knew was at Epsom Downs on May 4, 1780 and was won by Diomed for owner Sir Charles Bunbury. The race for three-year-olds was watched that day by an estimated crowd of less than 5,000. This year’s race will again bring together the best mile and a half prospects in Britain and Ireland, with Aidan O’Brien seeking a 12th win, having won a couple of key trials with Benvenuto Cellini and Constitution River.  

Gold Challenge Day
Greyville, South Africa, June 6

The G1 Gold Challenge is a prime lead-in to the G1 Durban July and the last two years have seen Dave The King win the mile contest. The hat-trick seeker warmed up at Scottsville on May 17, placing third over 1400m off a four-month break.

The Stradbroke & Q22
Eagle Farm, Australia, June 13

The 1400m G1 Stradbroke Handicap at Eagle Farm is one of the highlights of Brisbane’s winter carnival and last year War Machine landed the spoils. New Zealand star Rough Habit won the race back-to-back in 1991 and 1992, while other notable victors are Dane Ripper, Daybreak Lover, Tofane and Alligator Blood. The day also features the G2 Q22 over 2200m and the G1 J J Atkins Stakes over a mile for two-year-olds.

Royal Ascot
Ascot, England, June 16-20

The five-day Royal Ascot meeting features a wealth of high-class racing, the highlights being the G1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes, G1 Queen Anne Stakes, G1 Gold Cup, G1 St James’s Palace Stakes, G1 Coronation Stakes, G1 King Charles III Stakes, G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes and G1 Commonwealth Cup. ∎

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