As the dust settles on the first two classics of the domestic season, there can be absolutely no doubt that the weekend belonged to trainers Kevin Prendergast and Adrian Keatley.

Firstly to the legendary Prendergast, whose Awtaad was a dominant winner of the Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas.

An incredible 40 years after he last won the race, the trainer produced his highly progressive three-year-old in the form of his life to defeat the English Guineas winner Galileo Gold by two and a half lengths.

The reception accorded to the winner was something to live long in the memory and what made it even more special was that Prendergast’s triumph was achieved with long-term allies Chris Hayes and owner Hamdan Al Maktoum.

Triumph

One of the foremost figures in Irish racing for over half a century, Kevin Prendergast has enjoyed some memorable moments with the likes of Nebbiolo, Oscar Schindler, Rebelline and La Collina, but this was a triumph to match any of them.

The Irish 2000 Guineas also saw last year’s two-year-old champion Air Force Blue finish a disappointing seventh. A switch to sprinting is now on the cards for the colt, but he has a mountain to climb to recapture last season’s brilliance.

In the 1000 Guineas, Jet Setting’s rags to riches story took on fairytale proportions as she bested Minding to give Keatley an amazing triumph in just his second full season with a licence.

Truly Keatley has worked wonders with Jet Setting, who was purchased as a four-race maiden last October for a mere 12,000gns. Since then she has gone from strength to strength and the rain-softened ground allowed her to excel herself in beating the red-hot favourite and English 1000 Guineas heroine.

A victory like this at this stage of Keatley’s career is nothing short of colossal. For jockey Shane Foley, this was a well-deserved first top-level triumph, while the owners deserve tremendous credit having stumped up supplementary fees for both the English and Irish 1000 Guineas in recent weeks.

Elsewhere, Fascinating Rock served notice that he will be a leading player for some of Europe’s top prizes this autumn with a fine win in the Tattersalls Gold Cup. In his latest head-to-head with star filly Found, the Dermot Weld-trained charge was a resounding winner and his connections can look to the autumn with real confidence.

The Irish Champion Stakes in September is his next main target, while his top-drawer form over 10 furlongs underlines his credentials as a legitimate Arc de Triomphe contender.

To switch codes, there was some quality National Hunt action in France last weekend where Un De Sceaux recaptured his brilliant best to claim the Grade 2 Prix La Barka for Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh. After being beaten at Cheltenham, the dashing gelding was some way below his best at Sandown last month when his performance was marred by a series of jumping efforts.

However, he was restored to the peak of his powers as he posted a flawless front-running effort that saw him run out a very comfortable eight-length winner.

On the same card, Mullins sent out Footpad to contest the Grade 3 Prix Questarabad and the Triumph Hurdle third duly bounced back to form to claim a narrow win over the locally-trained odds-on favourite Device.

SALES

On the sales front, the latest edition of the Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale was a success. For the first time in its history, the sale posted a turnover of in excess of €5m and the average increased by almost 14 points to €28,859. A bigger catalogue did mean that the clearance rate dropped somewhat to 79%, as 185 of the 233 lots offered found buyers.

The sale again recorded its strongest growth at the head of the market, with the number of six-figure transactions growing from six in 2015 to nine this time around.

Furthermore, the record price of €170,000 was smashed when the BBA Ireland’s Eamon Reilly, acting for client Maura Gittins, forked out €270,000 for a Shamardal colt belonging to Willie Browne. Elsewhere, the sale witnessed a pinhooking triumph of epic proportions when David Redvers gave €165,000 for a Requinto colt who had cost Thomond O’Mara just €3,000 at the Goffs February Sale.