Richard Hughes expecting Van Der Neer to prevail in Irish 2,000 Guineas – Horseracing news
Jockey Richard Hughes is counting on Van Der Neer to win the Irish 2,000 Guineas, which has a cash prize of €174,000.
The veteran rider stated, “I’m really looking forward to riding Van Der Neer in the 2,000 Guineas. It goes without saying that I’m not going there with the same confidence I had with Canford Cliffs but there’s no doubting Van Der Neer has a big chance of
giving me a second Classic in the space of three weeks.”
The three-year-old colt is given a general starting price of 7 to 2 for the Group 1 event, which has attracted some extremely good challengers. He is not the favourite to succeed, but certainly has the ability to be fighting for the top spot.
Van Der Neer’s most recent race was in Newmarket where he finished in third place overall. He was rated 20 to 1 back then, but delivered a better result than expected. This clearly shows that he has made an improvement in his form and fitness.
Hughes added, “I’ve been very pleased with his work recently and he’s actually working better now than when he went to Newmarket – there’s no doubt that he's come on for the run. If he can reproduce his last run he's going to take all the beating.”
The Hughes-Van Der Neer partnership has proved to be a very good one until now. The pair has been together in four races, winning three of them whereas finished as a runner up once.
However, things will be a touch different in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, where the odds are in favour of Magician, who recently proved that he has become an improved performer now and will not make life easy for his rivals at the highest level.
In his only appearance this year, the young colt was given the best odds for victory and he ended up dictating terms under seasoned jockey Ryan Moore.
Due to this, Magician has been priced 9 to 4 for the upcoming race and it will be difficult for his rivals to match his speed. However, he will not be able to walk away with an easy victory this time, as Van Der Neer is in full flow and will come out with
all guns blazing.
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