MICHAEL Dods will experience mixed emotions when he watches Dubawi Gold line up as the 6-4 favourite for Saturday's Irish 2000 Guineas at The Curragh.

Dods trained Dubawi Gold as a two-year-old, guiding the Andrew Tinkler-owned colt to two wins in seven races in his debut season.

However, Tinkler opted to move the horse to Richard Hannon's stables in the winter and he has subsequently gone from strength to strength, finishing second to the brilliant Frankel in last month's 2000 Guineas at Newmarket.

That run persuaded Hannon to shell out 325,000 Euros to supplement Dubawi Gold in this weekend's Irish classic, and while Dods will be cheering his former stable star to the rafters, he will also be pondering what might have been.

"It's obviously disappointing that he's not still with us," said Dods, who is based at Denton, near Piercebridge. "It would be great to have a horse that's capable of winning a Classic, and Dubawi Gold certainly looks capable of doing the business at the weekend.

"We always knew he was a bit special. He was a bit too keen as a two-year-old, and he probably ran a bit too much at such a young age.

"It was hard to get him to settle as a youngster, and it was obvious he was a horse that needed to be held up. Now, his temperament has improved and you can do that with him.

"What's done is done. Andrew has lots of horses in training, and he needs those horses to be successful.

The one good thing is that he still has lots of nice horses with us, and so far this season, those horses have been running well."

Dods enjoyed the biggest success of his career to date when Tinkler's Sweet Lightning claimed the Lincoln Handicap at Doncaster last month.

However, the win came at a cost, with the six-year-old picking up an injury that will keep him off the racetrack for a number of months.

"He's having a rest," said Dods. "There was a little problem that emerged after his last run and hes still not 100 per cent right.

"We're hoping that he'll return to run again this season, but we'll have to see. It's nothing too serious, he just damaged something in his last race."

Sweet Lightning was one of Dods' eight winners since the start of the flat season, with Shamdarley and Amadeus Denton combining to record a 7.8-1 double at Doncaster last weekend.

The North-Easterner's Denton Hall stable has been in eye-catching form, even if the unseasonally dry weather has prevented him from running a number of his most promising juveniles.

"The ground is the biggest problem at the moment because you don't really want two-year-olds and inexperienced three-year-olds running on ground that's so unforgiving," he said.

"We've got a number of horses that really need a run, but it's trying to find a race and surface that's suitable.

"We have plenty of entries in the next fortnight or so, but they won't all be running unless there's a bit of rain. Everyone's in the same boat, but it's frustrating when you're having to change your plans all the time."