2000 Guineas Champ can floor Field Of Gold – CopyBet
2000 Guineas Champ can floor Field Of Gold – CopyBet
The first British Classic of the season takes place at Newmarket on Saturday afternoon as 11 top-class colts get set to lock horns on the famous Rowley Mile in the 2000 Guineas.
Four of the last five renewals have gone to British-trained runners, with Charlie Appleby landing wins in 2022 with Coroebus and last time with Notable Speech.
Aidan O'Brien's record stands at 10 wins, although the Ballydoyle maestro hasn't won the race since Magna Graecia in 2019.
Meanwhile, John Gosden's hopes of completing his full set of the British Classics looks strong as he and son Thady saddle impressive Craven Stakes winner Field Of Gold.
Gosden's Field Of Gold looks short
John & Thady Gosden will have major ambitions with their Craven winner Field Of Gold, and there was so much to like in the manner he picked up after a troubled run in the C&D trial 17 days ago.
The Kingman colt is a major player as he bids to give Gosden Snr a first 2000 Guineas win and thus complete his set of the British Classics.
He's short enough, though, at 15/8 and there are viable alternatives with plenty of scope for improvement.
Charlie Appleby has saddled two of the last three winners and his contenders, Ruling Court and Shadow Of Light, are key players.
The latter won the Dewhurst at this course last season but stepping up to a mile isn't necessarily a positive for a Kingman colt who could have sprinting qualities, and stable jockey William Buick prefers Ruling Court.
Joseph O'Brien won this race on board Camelot for his father in 2012 and he can add another major prize to his training CV with SCORTHY CHAMP.
The Mehmas colt won two of his three starts last season as a juvenile. He was a good debut winner at Leopardstown (7f, good) in May with subsequent multiple Group-race winner Hotazhell behind in fourth.
He was third in the Futurity Stakes at the Curragh in August behind Henri Matisse but avenged that defeat in the Group 1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes back at Headquarters during Irish Champions Weekend, form which was franked by the runner-up winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar.
In that National Stakes, Scorthy Champ got to the front in good style and appeared to idle a little, but he twice edged away when rivals came to him. His pedigree suggests this mile will be optimal, although the Derby trip is likely to stretch him.
For that reason, his trainer has pinpointed this as the Classic race he wants to be spot on for and Dylan McMonagle's partner looks set for a major challenge.
Given that his debut success at the Curragh had come only seven days previously, EXPANDED finishing second in the Dewhurst here last season was a massive run.
He came up the running rail with a lone rival in Ancient Truth that afternoon and the Godolphin runner took him on from some way out.
That may well have helped his Charlie Appleby-trained stablemate Shadow Of Light, as he came across and joined the pair late on to prevail by a neck.
Expanded would have learned plenty in that Group 1 contest on only his second outing and Aidan O'Brien suggested afterwards his Wootton Bassett colt looked "a made Guineas horse". He's a strong contender for a trainer with 10 wins in this race.
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Enda McElhinney is an experienced sports writer with an in-depth knowledge on horse racing in Britain and Ireland, while he also covers football and snooker extensively.