Armory has the ideal firepower

ARMORY (Curragh, 6.40) looks to have all the ammunition required to trouble hot favourite Siskin in this evening’s intriguing Irish 2,000 Guineas.

Unbeaten in four juvenile starts, Siskin has been a long- term ante-post favourite for the first Irish Classic having won all three of his starts at the Curragh, beating representatives from his own Ballydoyle stable in the process.

Those victories have been achieved in a pleasing manner without being explosive, and it will be fascinating to see if the step up to a mile, and a break of 308 days, has seen the Ger Lyons-trained colt improve physically.

He certainly sets a good standard for his 10 rivals to surpass, but Armory, given a typically industrious two-year-old campaign himself, looks a big threat on the best of his performances last season.

The selection did not make his debut until the middle of June, but from that point ran five times in Ireland before two trips to France, the last of which on heavy ground at Longchamp was an abject disappointment.

However, it is best to judge the Galileo colt on his previous visit to Paris when chasing home subsequent French Guineas winner Victor Ludorum in the Group One Jean-Luc Lagardere.

A previous Curragh defeat at the hands of Pinatubo in the National Stakes was far from a disgrace, either, and Armory could well relish a stiff mile and a fast surface at this evening’s venue. Today’s nap vote goes the way of

AWAY HE GOES (Newbury, 5.55), who could be well named in the mile-and-a-half handicap.

Trainer Ismail Mohammed sent out a 40-1 winner at Kempton on Wednesday and Away He Goes, a son of Farhh, appears well treated judged by his debut effort behind St Leger hero Logician last June.

The selection proved that run was no fluke with wins at Newbury and Newmarket, where he displayed a great attitude, and he appears the type to thrive this summer.