Racing Preview: Epsom Derby

The Investec Derby is a Group 1 Classic race run over 1 mile 4 furlongs round Epsom. In 2013 the winner will collect just over £780,000 in prize money.

Since 2001 trainers Aidan O’Brien and Sir Michael Stoute have each won three Derbys, the former most recently in 2012 with Camelot (8/13 f).

One of the most startling images or recent Derby history is that of jockey Mickael Barzalona standing up in the saddle and celebrating victory on Pour Moi a few strides before he passed the winning post. The winning distance was a head!

Two former Derby winners dominate the 2013 renewal through their offspring: Galileo (2001) and New Approach (2008). They have sired seven of the 12 runners in the race.

Throughout the month of May Dawn Approach has been like the prize gladiator just waiting in the wings as his rivals fight it out in the arena. Dawn Approach won the 2000 Guineas impressively early in the month and it was then up to his rivals to match his standard in the various trials races. From a betting perspective none of the rivals impressed the bookmakers, as Dawn Approach shortened in price without leaving his stable. The fact that the likes of Telescope were ruled out of the race also compounded this effect.

The Irish trainers have a strong hand in the 2013 Derby. As well as the strong favourite in Dawn Approach (Jim Bolger), Aidan O’Brien saddles five runners and David Wachman has interesting outsider Galileo Rock.

Libertarian, winner of the Dante Stakes at York, represents the main contender for the home contingent.

Each year, and 2013 is no different, the major Derby imponderables are whether or not a particular runner will handle the Epsom track and will it stay the distance?

Race Day Betting: Investec Oaks

Several of today’s Oaks contenders performed well in the preparatory races, be it Talent in the Pretty Polly Stakes, Moth in the Qipco 1000 Guineas, or Secret Gesture in the Oaks Trial Stakes. There is clearly a lot of potential in a number of runners, making them hard to rule out.

Secret Gesture has the highest rating in the race but looks very short at 9/4, given the potential of her rivals and the poor strike rate of favourites in the race in recent years (3 winning favourites in last 10 runnings, including one joint-favourite; 1 winning favourite in last 5 runnings).

The selection is Banoffee, trained by Hughie Morrison. The filly was supplemented for the race at a cost of £30,000 after winning the Cheshire Oaks round the curves at Chester. She came from off the pace to win well, suggesting she will handle the Oaks' course and distance.

Jockey Kieren Fallon rode her at Chester and he is aboard again for the Oaks and this is another point in Banoffee’s favour. Fallon rides the Epsom course well and has three Derby and four Oaks victories on his record. Fallon has no scheduled ride in tomorrow’s Derby, indeed Banoffee is his only ride across the entire Derby meeting. I believe Fallon will be keen to show his abilities on the big stage.

Banoffee is available at 10/1 with William Hill.

Racing Preview: Investec Oaks

The Epsom Oaks is a Group 1 race for 3yo fillies and is the third Classic race of the Flat season. Recent runnings of the race have seen some big-priced winners – the last two Oaks heroines have been returned at 20/1.

Trainer Ralph Beckett’s Look Here was another outsider to win the Oaks, victorious at 33/1 in 2008, but he has a much more fancied contender for the 2013 event in Secret Gesture. The Galileo-sired filly finished second in her first maiden race last October. Later that same month she won her second maiden race before returning this season and running out an easy 10-length winner of the Oaks Trial Stakes at Lingfield Park earlier in May.

Another fancied Galileo filly is Moth for Aidan O’Brien, who finished third to Sky Lantern in the Qipco 1000 Guineas. She travelled towards the rear of the field for much of the race but finished the mile very strongly to take third place, despite encountering some minor interference. The extra four furlongs in the Oaks could well benefit O’Brien’s filly.

Banoffee is unbeaten in two races and won the Listed Cheshire Oaks over one mile three furlongs round Chester in early May. As such, the Epsom Oaks’ distance should be no issue and she seemed to handle the cornering round the Roodee satisfactorily.

Ralph Beckett has a strong second contender in the race in the form of Talent. By New Approach, Talent won the Pretty Polly Stakes at Newmarket in May, which is a recognised trial for the Epsom Oaks. There is an interesting line of form from the Pretty Polly with William Haggas’s Lady Nouf. Talent beat Lady Nouf by half a length in the Pretty Polly. Lady Nouf had previously beaten Secret Gesture by a length in the Leicester maiden in which Secret Gesture had made her racecourse debut.

Horse Tales Of The Unexpected

A variety of events on the racetrack on Saturday afternoon should serve as a valuable lesson to any gambler that no matter how much form study you do, how many race videos you watch, how diligently you compile your speed stats, when you place a bet you do so with no more realistic chance of knowing what is going to happen than knowing what lies in the centre of a black hole.

In the opening handicap race on Haydock’s card Classic Colori (10/1) came to challenge the leader, and favourite, Albaqaa in the last 200 metres. It looked like Classic Colori would pass the favourite and go on to win the race. That was until apprentice jockey David Bergin first dropped his whip and then mistook the half furlong marker for the winning post, stopped riding, and began easing his horse up. Classic Colori was only beaten by a head, much to the frustration of its backers and to the relief of favourite backers as Albaqaa held on to win.

Then in the very next race at York the appropriately named Mad Moose refused to race (RR). He went into the starting stalls but when they opened he simply ambled forwards a few paces then rooted himself to the spot. Mildly amusing to see but, again, not if he was carrying your money.

Mad Moose’s form figures this calendar year read: 2 RR RR 1 2 RR. But with his prices of 50/1, 28/1 and 20/1 when he does complete a race, you would be comfortably in profit if you backed him each way on all six runs this year.

Then back at Haydock Van Percy looked certain to be an unlucky loser when he was boxed in on the rails and unable to find a gap to get out. A gap appeared in the last five strides and jockey Cathy Gannon made one late last lunge to get her mount up by a nose.

It would have been hard to predict such a manner of victory beforehand and was owed in large part to good fortune. Similarly if you had backed Mark Johnston’s Blue Wave (9/1) to grind out a battling win from the front (as he had done on his last two wins – the notes both read ‘made all’) you were correct for every stride of the 1 mile 3 furlong 200 yard race, bar the last one.

The events that unfurl between starting stalls and winning post often lie beyond the prediction of the mortal mind.

Knocked Into A Cocked Hat

Any last fragment of argument that the Cocked Hat Stakes at Goodwood (formerly the Predominate Stakes) was in any way a trial for the Epsom Derby has been finally crushed after the 2013 running of the race.

The calendar was already against the race with the Derby falling on the very first day of June this year, its earliest possible date. With only a little over a week between the Cocked Hat and the Derby it was already unlikely that any contender would take in both races.

But this year’s race attracted only three runners and when Fantastic Moon was declared a non-runner it left the Listed race with a match between two horses, battling it out for first place prize money of £22,600.

The race itself was a good duel with Sir Henry Cecil’s Disclaimer coming out on top but it is a shame that more runners were not attracted to contest it.

The race seems to have rather lost its place in the calendar, which is a shame because it is a contest over 1 mile 3 furlongs on a track with a bend and a hill to be negotiated, not unlike Epsom, albeit in the opposite direction. It could be a good test of potential for any Derby horse.

Telegraph Fantasy Racing Update

The position has not improved for Turf Accounts’ fantasy stables after the JLT Lockinge Stakes and Betfred Temple Stakes.

One stable now sits in around 5,000th place and the other is languishing nearer 13,500th.

Richard Fahey earned one stable 320 points for Glen’s Diamond’s victory in the Yorkshire Cup and 25/1.

Selecting Farhh as the winner of the Lockinge only earned us 66 points and it would have been better to have had Sovereign Debt at 80/1 in second.

We also managed to find Kingsgate Native at 14/1 in the Betfred Temple Stakes but our stables do not seem to be making progress up the leaderboard.

We have a some hopes in next week’s Epsom Derby meeting but some of the prices are likely to be too short to earn us lots of points.

Book Review: Britain and Ireland’s Top 100 Racehorses Of All Time

Robin Oakley (2012) Britain and Ireland’s Top 100 Racehorses Of All Time. Corinthian Books

As trainer Henrietta Knight rightly points out in the foreword to the book: “How could anybody choose their top 100 racehorses and place them into an order?”

The ranking of particular horses is not the point of this book. Rather it is a mechanism by which to take a trip through a history of the Turf through some of the horses that dominated their era. An enjoyment of horseracing is not dependent on knowing all of the horses from bygone times but learning about the great horses of the past can help explain why there is a race called the Arkle Challenge Trophy at the Cheltenham Festival, or why Chester racecourse has a race named the Ormonde Stakes.

Robin Oakley’s book provides an excellent historical tour across the decades of the racing superstars of Flat and jumps of the time. Reading this well-researched volume will improve your knowledge of the Turf’s history immeasurably.

I approached this book by starting at the end, with the horse that Oakley placed in #1 spot and worked my way back to the front of the book. I also only read one or two entries at time because I found that reading any more diminished how impressed I was by each horse’s achievements, as all the wins and records began to merge. The best way to enjoy this book is definitely to dip into it for short bursts.

It is also worth reading Robin Oakleys’s racing column in the Spectator magazine for insightful opinions and interviews on racing matters.

Hawk Wing’s Lockinge: 2003

Aidan O’Brien might have the favourite for the 2013 renewal of the Lockinge Stakes but it is now 10 years since the trainer’s first and only win in the race so far with Hawk Wing.

Hawk Wing was a colt who had a good career but never really fulfilled the potential he showed as a two-year-old. His wins as a two-year-old in 2001 made him favourite for the 2000 Guineas and Epsom Derby the next season but he finished second in both Classics.

Hawk Wing was kept in training as a four-year-old and it was his win in the 2003 Lockinge that, for me, gave him his most memorable day on the racecourse.

I remember watching the race on the big screen in a betting shop. In the minutes before the race dark rain clouds gathered over the racecourse and heavy rain began to fall. It gave a great sense of atmosphere to the race and then Hawk Wing proceeded to storm down the straight mile, leaving a good quality field far behind. The video below fails to do full justice to the heavy atmosphere but does show how impressive he was when he was at his best.

Cannot believe it was a decade ago now.

Racing Preview: JLT Lockinge Stakes

Just like several big races so far this season, the betting for the Group 1 JLT Lockinge Stakes at Newbury this afternoon centres around an Aidan O’Brien runner. On this occasion it is Declaration Of War.

Declaration Of War is as short as 13/8 in some places for the straight mile contest but is along way behind some of his rivals on official ratings. But it would be no surprise if Aidan O’Brien’s colt continued to show improvement and make a mockery of his current rating of 112.

The race is set up as a contest between the older horses who have the form in the book and the potential of the four-year-olds.

Godolphin’s Farhh (5-year-old) chased home Frankel on two occasions last season, never getting closer than six lengths. But Farhh has been beset by injuries in his career and most recently suffered an ankle injury over the winter. This will be his first run since that surgery.

The seven-year-old Cityscape is rated 124 and also finished runner up to a good horse in Excelebration twice last season.

Two interesting runners are Sir Henry Cecil’s Beauty Parlour and John Gosden’s Fencing. Beauty Parlour finished well down the field in the Sun Chariot Stakes late last season but had won the French Guineas for her pervious trainer earlier in the season. Again, backing her for the Lockinge is to take a view as to how much she has improved for Sir Henry’s work over the winter.

Racing Preview: York Dante Meeting

The Dante Meeting takes place over three days from 15 – 17 May 2013 at York racecourse, also known as the Knavesmire.

As well as being a very enjoyable early summer Flat meeting, the three days’ racing at York provides some useful clues to the upcoming Classics races at Epsom in June, namely the Oaks and the Derby.

The two key trials races at the Dante Meeting are the Betfred Dante Stakes for three-year-old colts and the Tattersalls Musidora Stakes for three-year-old fillies. Both are run over 1 mile 2 furlongs and act as trials for the Epsom Derby and Oaks respectively.

The Dante Stakes has proved a good trial for the Epsom Derby and several recent winners have gone on from York to win at Epsom in June, including North Light (2004), Motivator (2005), and Authorized (2007).

2012 Dante winner Bonfire finished sixth in the Epsom Derby, whilst Carlton House was third in 2011, and Tartan Bearer (2008) finished second to New Approach.

For 2013’s running of the Dante it was expected that Sir Michael Stoute’s Telescope would feature prominently because the colt was a leading contender for the Epsom Derby. But on Tuesday Telescope was withdrawn from the Betfred Dante Stakes after suffering a minor infection in some cuts on his legs.

Eight horses remain in Thursday’s race including Aidan O’Brien’s Indian Chief. The trainer has been winning many of the Epsom Derby trial races. Mark Johnston’s unbeaten Windhoek is also still in the line up.

Away from the Epsom trial races, another highlight of the Dante Meeting at York is the Qipco Yorkshire Cup, a Group 2 race for Flat staying horses over 1 mile 6 furlongs. The Yorkshire Cup is part of the Qipco British Champions Series.

O’Brien Dominates Derby Trials

In the months before the Epsom Derby, which takes place over 1 mile 4 furlongs, 10 yards on Saturday 1 June 2013 there is a number of races which act as trials for the Classic race and help sort out which horses may or may not take their place in the starting stalls at Epsom.

In 2013 the recognised trials races have been dominated by Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien’s Derby contenders.

In mid-April Battle Of Marengo won the Ballysax Stakes over 1 mile 2 furlongs at Leopardstown and O’Brien has subsequently won the Chester Vase (1m 4f 110y) with Ruler Of The World, the Dee Stakes (Chester) (1m 2f 110y with Magician, and the Lingfield Derby Trial Stakes (1m 4f) with Nevis.

Later this afternoon Battle Of Marengo will contest the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial Stakes at Leopardstown, which will reveal more about his Derby credentials.

Still to come next week is a key Derby trial in the form of the Dante Stakes at York (1m 2f 110y).

Of course, winning the trials does not mean you win the Derby and there is certainly a question about the quality of competition in the trial races and the relevance of Derby trials in the modern racing calendar.

Despite all of these winners for Aidan O’Brien, Jim Bolger’s Dawn Approach, winner of May’s 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, remains 13/8 favourite with William Hill for the Epsom Derby.

A Day At The Races: Kelso

Some photos from a day out at the picturesque, rural Kelso racecourse in the Scottish Borders.

Kelso Saddling Boxes

The Parade Ring At Kelso 

Looking Down The Home Straight At Kelso

Kelso Racecourse

A Photo Finish 

Telegraph Fantasy Racing Update

After the first round of races in the Qipco British Champions Series Turf Accounts’ two fantasy stables are sitting in around 2,900th and 4,700th position.

Good points were picked up by selecting Sky Lantern and Just The Judge in the 1000 Guineas and Richard Hughes was one of the stable’s jockeys.

But we missed out on the big points earned by Glory Awaits for Kevin Ryan and Jamie Spencer in the 2000 Guineas.

Newmarket Qipco Guineas Meeting Review

The firm ground ensured some fast times were recorded by several winners over the two days of the Qipco Guineas meeting at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile course.

Sole Power (7/2 jf), trained by Edward Lynam, powered to a time of 57 seconds for the five furlongs in the Group 3 Pearl Bloodstock Palace House Stakes.

Kevin Ryan’s Hamza (5/1 jf) was simply too quick for his rivals in the six furlong Harbour Watch Handicap and he made every yard of the running under Neil Callan to win by 2 ¾ lengths in a time of 1 minute 10 seconds.

The trainer was also delighted by the run of Glory Awaits, who finished second at 150/1 in the Qipco 2000 Guineas.

There was a celestial connection in the names of the Guineas winners with Dawn Approach (Jim Bolger) winning the 2000 Guineas and Sky Lantern (Richard Hannon) the 1000 Guineas. Sky Lantern’s victory gave jockey Richard Hughes with his first British Classic winner.

Aidan O’Brien’s Moth finished third in the 1000 Guineas, showing on the racecourse some of the potential connections knew she had. As a result, the Galileo filly is now just 7/2 for the Epsom Oaks at the end of May.

Mark Johnston’s Windhoek looks a fine horse and is now unbeaten in three races after taking the Listed Qatar Racing Newmarket Stakes. The colt was successful in the 200,000 Tattersalls Millions 3-Y-O Trophy over the same course and distance in April. The colt holds an entry for the Betfred Dante Stakes at York in a couple of weeks, as well as for the King Edward VII Stakes (Royal Ascot) and Sandown's Coral-Eclipse in July.

The appropriately named Talent won the Pretty Polly Stakes for fillies. Ralph Beckett’s filly is sired by New Approach and could certainly be one to follow during the season. She holds entries in the Epsom Oaks (Group 1), the Ribblesdale Stakes (Group 2 ) at Royal Ascot, and the Irish Oaks (Group 1).

Sky Lantern Lands The 1000 Guineas

Sky Lantern (9/1) came from off the pace to win the Qipco 1000 Guineas, taking the prize from Just The Judge on the line.

The filly made up for the disappointment of the Hannon stable after the poor showing of Toronado in the 2000 Guineas on Saturday.

Jockey Richard Hughes, riding his first British Classic winner, delivered his mount with a well-timed ride to collar Just The Judge (7/1) by half a length. Aidan O'Brien's Moth (9/1), supplemented for the race last week, finished in third place.

Sir Henry Cecil's Hot Snap (5/2f) never really featured in the race and looked under pressure from some way out.

Jockey Jamie Spencer had a 'nearly' weekend, finishing runner-up in both the 2000 and 1000 Guineas on Glory Awaits (150/1) and Just The Judge (7/1).

Race Day Betting: Qipco 1000 Guineas

French fillies have quite a good record in the 1000 Guineas in recent years and the selection for this year’s contest is Mikel Delzangles’ What A Name.

There is actually a line of form to yesterday’s 2000 Guineas winner Dawn Approach with the filly. Dawn Approach beat Olympic Glory in last season’s Coventry Stakes by ¾ of a length. Olympic Glory subsequently beat What A Name by one-and-a-quarter lengths in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (formerly the Grand Criterium). That looks a good performance for a filly taking on the colts.

What A Name has also had a winning preparation race in early April. She is a price of 9/2 with Skybet.

The each-way selection is Richard Hannon’s Sky Lantern (9/1 with Skybet). Back on equal weight terms with Hot Snap and with firmer ground than she had in the Nell Gwyn Stakes last month, she should make the places.

Dawn Approach Wins Qipco 2000 Guineas

Dawn Approach gave Godolphin some good news after weeks of bad headlines by winning the 205th running of the Qipco 2000 Guineas at Newmarket.

Glory Awaits and Leitir Mor blasted out of the gates and took the field along at a good pace with Toronado and Dawn Approach behind the two front runners.

The two market leaders took it up as they entered the dip but Toronado could not find the turn of foot he had shown at the Craven Meeting. Dawn Approach surged well clear of the field to win by five lengths.

Glory Awaits clung on to second place at 150/1 under Jamie Spencer, with Van Der Neer coming through for third (20/1) for the Hannon team under William Buick. Toronado finished in fourth place (11/4).

Speaking on Channel 4 Racing afterwards Richard Hannon Jnr said of Toronado's performance that it was "very disappointing" and that the colt "didn't come home as we'd hoped".

Jim Bolger, meanwhile, said of any decision to go for the Epsom Derby with Dawn Approach that they would "sleep on it" and see how the winner was after his exertions in the 2000 Guineas. But the trainer added that he would be "happy to go for it [the Derby]" if that is what Sheikh Mohammed wanted.

Race Day Betting: Qipco 2000 Guineas

The betting suggests the first Classic of the season is a match between Dawn Approach (7/4f with William Hill) and Toronado (2/1).

Several of today’s runners found themselves behind Dawn Approach in races last season, be it the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot or the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket. If all those horses – Dawn Approach, Cristoforo Colombo, George Vancouver, and Leitir Mor – have improved from 2yo to 3yo to a similar level then it is hard to argue that any will reverse the form with Dawn Approach.

There is no doubting what Dawn Approach has done on the racecourse as a two-year-old but he has been described as a ‘lazy’ horse and there has been no opportunity to see him run on the racecourse as a three-year-old. As such, some elements of his prospects for the 2000 Guineas have to be taken on trust as a punter. In return for that ‘blind’ trust I want a bigger price than the 7/4 that is available.

So, the selection is Toronado for Richard Hannon. The colt’s win in the Craven Stakes was impressive, regardless of the quality of the horses he beat that day. It showed a horse that could handle both course and distance as well as quicken at different stages of the race. It provides me with more recent evidence of ability as a three-year-old than I have for Dawn Approach and I get a bigger price for it too.

The Hannon stable has been in good form in general since the start of the season and connections are confident about the chances of their runner.

Richard Hannon Jnr said on the stable’s website: “Toronado did his last proper piece of work last Sunday and goes to Newmarket in the form of his life. We always felt that he was more one for the Derby than the Guineas, but this spring he has been showing much speed in the mornings than he did last year, so, while Dawn Approach is obviously a very good horse, we feel that we have a solid chance of beating him.”

2000 Guineas Betting Offer

Ladbrokes is offering a refund of your stake as a free bet (up to £25) if Dawn Approach wins the 2000 Guineas.

Ladbrokes have Dawn Approach at 5/4 and Toronado at 2/1

Racing Preview: Qipco 1000 Guineas

The Qipco 1000 Guineas is the second Classic race of the British Flat season, taking place on the day after the 2000 Guineas. It is run over a mile at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile course and is open only to 3yo fillies.

As with the 2000 Guineas, the 1000 Guineas has had some big-priced outsiders win the event in recent years. Aidan O’Brien’s Homecoming Queen won the 2012 renewal of the race at 25/1, whilst the 2011 race went to Blue Bunting at 16/1.

In 2010 Sir Henry Cecil’s Jacqueline Quest was first past the post at 66/1 by a nose from Criquette Head-Maarek’s Special Duty. But the result was reversed in a stewards’ enquiry, giving the race to the French filly.

If Jacqueline Quest had kept the race it would have been Sir Henry’s first win in the Classic since Wince in 1999. The trainer has the current favourite for the 2013 Qipco 1000 Guineas in the shape of Hot Snap (5/2).

1000 Guineas: Leading Contenders

Hot Snap: Unbeaten in two runs, Sir Henry Cecil’s filly moved to the head of the 1000 Guineas betting with a win in the Nell Gwyn Stakes at Newmarket in April. She beat fellow 1000 Guineas entry Sky Lantern on that occasion.

Quoted on his website sirhenrycecil.com, Sir Henry believes: "The mile will suit her better and hopefully the experience of the Nell Gwyn will have brought her on. She is coming in her coat but will always be a very tall filly with plenty of bone (and) not over-robust.”

Just The Judge: Another unbeaten filly, with two wins over 7f at Newbury and a Group 2 victory in the Rockfel Stakes, also over 7f, at Newmarket (Rowley Mile) in October 2012. Has not had a preparation race, unlike some of her rivals, but connections were pleased with her final serious work out on Saturday 27 April.

What A Name: Trained in France by Mikel Delzangles, who won the 2000 Guineas with Makfi in 2010 at 33/1. What A Name won the Group 3 Priz La Rochette at Longchamp in September 2012 before putting up a very good performance against the colts when runner-up in heavy ground to Olympic Glory in the Group 1 Grand Criterium (Longchamp). Has had a run this season, winning the Group 3 Prix Imprudence (7f) at Maisons-Laffitte in early April.

Sky Lantern: Finished second to Hot Snap when favourite for the Nell Gwyn Stakes at Newmarket’s Craven Meeting in April. Jockey Richard Hughes said firmer ground would suit the filly better and if the ground is firmer for the 1000 Guineas you might see a different result. Sky Lantern was also carrying a 3lb penalty that day for her Group 1 win in the Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh (September 2012).

Moth: Aidan O’Brien’s filly was supplemented for the 1000 Guineas earlier this week, as she did not originally hold an entry for the Classic. She won a maiden race in good style over 7f at the Curragh in April and quickened well when asked, showing good speed. Paying the GB£ 30,000 to have her added to the line-up is some measure of the faith connections have in the filly.

Racing Preview: Qipco 2000 Guineas

The Qipco 2000 Guineas is the first Classic race in the British Flat season. It is run in early May over a distance of a mile (8 furlongs) at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile course. The race is open to three-year olds, both colts and fillies. The race title is derived from the approximate value of all the entry fees for the first running of the race.

Camelot and Frankel have been two recent short-priced winners but for a few years before that the race had a habit of throwing up some longer priced winners: Makfi (33/1), Sea The Stars (8/1), Henrythenavigator (11/1), and Cockney Rebel (25/1). Indeed, there have been several short-priced favourites that have been beaten in the race over the years, such as: Xaar (1998), New Approach (2008), St Nicholas Abbey (2010).

Interestingly, the favourite for the 2013 contest is Dawn Approach, whose sire is New Approach, who finished second by a nose to Henrythenavigator in 2008 when the 11/8 favourite.

2000 Guineas: Leading Contenders

Dawn Approach: Jim Bolger’s colt is unbeaten in six races, including wins in the 2012 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot (beating Cristoforo Colombo). He was last seen on the racecourse at Newmarket in October 2012 when winning the Dewhurst Stakes.

The trainer has said Dawn Approach has thrived over the winter and there has been no hitch in his preparation for the 2000 Guineas. For this reason, the Bolger decided that no preparatory race was required and his colt will go straight to the Classic.

Dawn Approach has never raced over a mile and has been described as a ‘lazy’ horse. But the horse has shown the expected physical improvement from 2yo to 3yo and may even improve for running over a mile.

Toronado: Like Dawn Approach, Toronado is unbeaten on the racecourse. Richard Hannon’s colt was an impressive winner of the Craven Stakes over course and distance in April. The stable also have a good guide to his relative merits versus Dawn Approach because the stable’s Olympic Glory was second to Dawn Approach in the Coventry Stakes at last year’s Royal Ascot meeting.

The Craven Stakes performance showed that Toronado can handle the dip in the Rowley Mile course and he showed good speed.

Mars: Very little to know about Mars, other than he is trained by Aidan O’Brien, who has trained the winner of the 2000 Guineas five times since the year 2000, including in Camelot in 2012. Mars’ only racecourse form is a four-length win in a seven-furlong maiden at Dundalk in July 2012. The trainer still has a couple of other entries in the race – Cristoforo Colombo, George Vancouver – so it is difficult to know which horse is the stable’s best chance.

Cristoforo Colombo: Another Aidan O’Brien challenger and third behind Dawn Approach in last season’s Coventry Stakes. Has not raced beyond six furlongs in his career but is sired by 2000 Guineas winner Henrythenavigator. Finished fourth in last Octobers Middle Park stakes at Newmarket behind another 2000 Guineas contender Moohaajim (second).