Bank Holiday Horse Racing: Big Weekend Ahead for Aidan O’Brien

There is a ton of top-class scheduled to take place this weekend, providing punters with a plethora of wagering opportunities.

The Tattersalls Irish Guineas Festival is the standout meeting, and most of the best betting apps are already offering odds on the big races.

Top Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien is often the man to follow at the top race meetings, so read on as we look at some of his most fancied runners this weekend.

O’Brien has a strong hand in the Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh on Saturday, with Paddington and Cairo expected to be in the line-up.

Paddington is the pick of the pair at odds of 11/4 on several horse racing betting sites having won three out of four career starts to date.

He was an impressive winner of a Listed race at this track on his most recent outing and is the type of horse that will keep improving with time.

O’Brien has won this race on 11 previous occasions and it would be no surprise to see him add another victory to his tally this weekend.

Little Big Bear will bid to restore his reputation when he returns to sprinting in the Betfred Nifty Fifty Sandy Lane Stakes at Haydock on Saturday.

Last season’s champion juvenile sprinter bombed out when stepped up to a mile in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, although there were mitigating circumstances for that run.

O’Brien has subsequently scrapped the experiment of running Little Big Bear over a longer distance and is aiming the horse at the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot.

Odds of 7/1 for that Group 1 race on the top betting sites will disappear if O’Brien’s charge emerges victorious at Haydock.

Meditate is another O’Brien horse on a redemption mission this weekend and could be worth checking out in the Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas on Sunday.

Meditate recorded a superb win in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Keeneland last November and was well fancied to run a big race in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket.

Ground conditions went against the filly on that occasion, but she still performed with credit to finish sixth behind Mawj and Tahiyra.

The latter horse is odds-on to go one better at the Curragh, but Meditate could be a solid each-way wager at odds of around 7/1 on new betting sites.