IT has been a tough start to the 2023 classics for Aidan O’Brien’s three-year-olds.

The 2000 Guineas at Newmarket was described as a “non-event” for the Ballydoyle duo of Auguste Rodin and Little Big Bear, with the latter returning lame as they finished well down the field.

Meditate failed to land a telling blow when sixth in the 1000 Guineas a day later, while O’Brien’s French Guineas candidates, Hans Andersen and Never Ending Story, were also unable to reach the frame.

If there is one benefit to come from O’Brien’s early classic excursions, though, it might be that Little Big Bear is now rerouted to pursue a sprinting campaign. While it’s difficult to read too much into his Guineas disappointment, he was racing keenly even prior to being struck into and will surely be much more comfortable back over shorter distances.

Another reason such a move would be welcomed is because Irish racing is badly in need of top-quality sprinters. The category looks extremely light at a time when Ireland’s short-distance specialists have largely been struggling to make their presence felt on the biggest stage.

The Irish sprinting ranks memorably went through a rich period during the early 2010s. Sole Power was a mainstay in global sprints, notching five Group 1 wins, stablemate Slade Power pulled off the Diamond Jubilee-July Cup double in 2014, Gordon Lord Byron recorded three top-level wins in three different countries across as many years and the admirable Maarek rattled off eight listed or group race wins, including the 2013 Prix de l’Abbaye.

Since then, the returns for Irish-trained horses in these races have been largely disappointing, with barren spells in many of Europe’s top sprint events.

Domestic depth

Strictly looking at the list of Ireland’s 100 highest-rated flat horses across all distances on Horse Racing Ireland’s online database this week, it’s difficult to see the tide turning immediately.

While a number of those listed in the overall 100 have either been retired or are now trained abroad, there are just 14 active sprinters in the rankings - only two of which have won in Group 1 company.

The domestic pool has been diminished by A Case Of You and Logo Hunter being sold to continue their careers in Australia and the Middle East respectively, while Blackbeard and Romantic Proposal were retired over the off-season. Exciting Listed Ballyhane Blenheim Stakes winner Beauty Crescent was also transferred to Hong Kong in February.

If Little Big Bear is not campaigned over the shortest distances, the next definite sprinters in the Irish rankings are 112-rated The Antarctic and Twilight Jet. The former was turned over on extremely testing ground in the Listed Committed Stakes on his comeback last month, while the latter has been absent since trailing the field in the Jubilee Stakes and July Cup last summer.

There has only been one British representative across the opening four sprint races for three-year-olds or older so far this season: the Alice Haynes-trained Fix You, who won the Listed Polonia Stakes at Cork. With 10 of the 23 entries trained in Britain for this month’s Weatherbys Ireland Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh, we could be set for more of the same.

So then, why are Ireland’s sprinters struggling to make an impact in Europe’s premier prizes?

Given the talk in recent years that speed-focused sires are continuously influencing our talent pools, it must be deemed a little surprising that the sprint division hasn’t seen an uplift of late.

IHRB senior flat handicapper Garry O’Gorman believes the sprinting division has typically been a weaker relation to Ireland’s middle-distance and staying categories.

“If we have an Achilles’ heel in Irish racing in terms of the calibre of flat racing, sprinting would always have traditionally been that, at least in my time anyway,” O’Gorman told The Irish Field.

“If we look at Aidan O’Brien and Ballydoyle, there has always been an emphasis on the Sadler’s Wells/Galileo line, meaning strength over longer trips. There was no speed version of Galileo, as such, so Aidan O’Brien has never been as plentiful with good horses in that division as would be the case from a mile upwards. He’s a mainstay in terms of quality in Irish racing, so I think that’s a significant factor.

“We had a bit of a golden spell in the early 2010s but it’s a smaller pool of horses, you can see that from the entries. There’s also a knack to sprinting. Horses can get better in terms of breath management and things like that, and the more practice they get the better they are.

British power

“Sprinting is a very strong category in British racing and we are probably vulnerable to them coming over. There are lots of big sprints there but we just don’t have the numbers to justify that level of races here. The classic example is Sole Power, who couldn’t win a listed race in Ireland but went over to York and won a Group 1.

“The reason was that he loved a fast pace but couldn’t seem to get it here. They could hack to halfway here and sprint for two and a bit furlongs - that style never suited him and he got his end-to-end pace in England.”

Few are better qualified to assess the situation than Sole Power and Slade Power’s sprinting-specialist trainer Eddie Lynam.

“I don’t know exactly why but different factors are at play,” he explains. “A lot of the sprinters who could be a similar ilk to the likes of Sole Power, Slade Power and Gordon Lord Byron are possibly sold on very early in their careers now. It’s a business decision, with more trainers operating as traders.

“You’ll have examples at the top table like last year’s Flying Five Stakes winner Highfield Princess, who took time to get up to full speed and has improved with experience and age. She was fantastic for John Quinn last season [at the age of five] but wasn’t push-button at the start. Would other trainers have given that time to allow their horses to develop into what they can be with age?

“If Sole Power and Slade Power were in other yards, would they have been sold on after winning their maidens too? Most probably. The sprinting programme has improved since those days but just because a horse is fast doesn’t mean they’ll produce their best at two.”

Little Big Bear was electric at two and could bid to follow in the footsteps of Ballydoyle’s Ten Sovereigns and U S Navy Flag by turning a failed Guineas bid into Group 1 sprint joy later that season.

Here’s hoping he can breathe life into a division that needs oxygen.

(as per HRI’s top 100 rankings)

Little Big Bear (124)

The Antarctic (112)

Twilight Jet (112)

Erosandpsyche (111)

Tenebrism (111)

Aesop’s Fables (110)

Mooneista (109)

Shartash (109)

Ladies Church (108)

Moss Tucker (108)

Ocean Quest (107)

Wodao (107)

Lord Massusus (106)

Coachello (105)