Duke Of Marmalade looks like he could head the Aidan O'Brien team in Saturday's Boylesports Irish 2,000 Guineas and the champion trainer will be hoping the colt can follow the pattern set by last year's winner Araafa in the first classic of the Irish season.

Araafa finished fourth to George Washington in the Newmarket Guineas before comprehensively reversing that form at the Curragh and Duke Of Marmalade, fourth to Cockney Rebel 17 days ago, will have to pull off a similar feat at the weekend.

Both Cockney Rebel and the Newmarket runner-up, Vital Equine, are part of the 20-strong entry left in the first Group One pot of the season in Ireland but it is O'Brien who numerically dominates with seven horses left in including his principal Epsom Derby contender, Archipenko.

The Ballydoyle trainer, however, played the appearance of the Derrinstown Derby Trial winner among the entries and instead indicated that Duke Of Marmalade may be his number one hope of a fifth success in the Irish Guineas. "There is no real significance in Archipenko being in there. The plan is to go for the Derby with him," O'Brien said yesterday.

"Eagle Mountain is a possible but he also has the option of the French Derby. Duke Of Marmalade is a likely runner and we will make up our minds about some of the others later in the week.

"Excellent Art is a possible but his run in France wasn't that long ago so we will see if he's okay," he added.

Bookmaker reaction was to make the Aidan O'Brien stable a 3 to 1 shot to win out behind Cockney Rebel who has been made a red-hot 11 to 10 favourite with Cashmans after reports of a scintillating weekend report at Newmarket.

Cockney Rebel will be hoping to become the first since Rock Of Gibraltar in 2002 to complete the Newmarket-Curragh double but comparative uncertainty about the final make up of the field is reflected in the Cashmans quote of 8 to 1 about the David Wachman stable.

Wachman has three left in, headed by Followmyfootsteps who ran in the French Guineas on his last start. Rabatash also figures but his name appears in the Group Three Weatherbys Ireland Greenland Stakes entries too.

"The intention is to run Followmyfootsteps but I'm going to sit on the fence with the others for as long as I can," Wachman said yesterday. I will know more about they're doing later in the week. But Footsteps has come out of France in great shape and I think he has improved for the run."

Also set to run is the French Guineas runner-up Creachadoir, second to Astronomer Royal at Longchamp, while Dermot Weld will attempt to add to his sole Irish 2,000 Guineas success to date (Flash Of Steel in 1986) with Fleeting Shadow.

"Fleeting Shadow is well and on target to run," said Weld before indicating that his 1,000 Guineas heroine, Nightime, is set to make her first start of the year in Sunday's Tattersalls Gold Cup rather than Saturday's Group Three Ridgewood Pearl Stakes.

"She will run in the Tattersalls. I think the 10 furlongs will suit and I'm looking forward to running her," he added.

The ground at the Curragh remains good apart from some good to firm areas on the round course and the authorities there are hopeful of perfect going for the triple Group One weekend.

"The forecast into the weekend is for sunshine and showers and we may get the tail end of a rain belt on Friday. If we don't get any rain, we can water on Thursday or Friday, but with the ground the way is means we won't have to water much, if at all," said the Curragh manager Paul Hensey.

That will be good news to the Michael Stoute team who could send Cheveley Park's Heaven Sent for the Ridgewood Pearl Stakes.

"Like a lot of Pivotal's, she looks progressive and we are hopeful she can step up to black type," said the Cheveley Park manager Chris Richardson.

"The Curragh is an option. The ground could be a factor. She likes top of the ground."

Heaven Sent is one of 14 left in the Ridgewood Pearl and just one less than that tally remain in the Listed Isabel Morris Stakes for which Aidan O'Brien has five options.

They include the dual-winner Warsaw, Achilles Of Troy, who won at Newmarket on his debut, as well as the impressive Gowran winner Henrythenavigator who is already favourite in some books for next year's 2,000 Guineas. Mick Channon has left in two entries.

Cashmans 2,000 Guineas betting: 11-10 Cockney Rebel, 3 Aidan O'Brien's selected, 9-2 Vital Equine, 8 Haatef, Creachadoir and David Wachman's selected, 16 Ferneley, 33 bar.