Homecoming Queen bids for Guineas follow-up Homecoming Queen faces seven rivals as she attempts to follow up her surprise victory in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket in the Etihad Airways-sponsored Irish equivalent at the Curragh on Sunday. Aidan O'Brien's filly set the early pace three weeks ago and could not be caught under Ryan Moore, who will be replaced in the saddle by Joseph O'Brien. Having won at Newmarket by nine lengths, Homecoming Queen heads to the Curragh as an odds-on favourite. "Her first six or seven runs she kept getting beat and we didn't know what was wrong, so we changed tactics a bit and she has clicked into gear. She's a very hardy filly," said Aidan O'Brien. O'Brien junior added: "It was a great performance in Newmarket and if she reproduces something like that she should be very, very hard to beat. "There was no fluke about it in Newmarket. "She went to the front and did it the hard way." Moore switches to Ballydoyle stablemate After, who was last seen finishing fourth in the French 1000 Guineas. Ishvana, third in the Athasi Stakes on her most recent outing, also runs for O'Brien.
