Gleneagles, Aidan O’Brien’s leading hope for the 2,000 Guineas, strengthened his position as the favourite for the Classic without leaving Ireland on Wednesday when Faydhan, a 5-1 chance before racing, showed little hint of Group One potential as he finished only third of five in the European Free Handicap. Faydhan was immediately ruled out of the 2,000 Guineas by John Gosden, his trainer, and could be aimed instead at Royal Ascot in June.
Faydhan still has just two races behind him, having beaten a subsequent Group Two winner on his only start last season, but his inexperience is one of the few positives to clutch at after his defeat at odds of 1-2. His nine-month stint towards the top of the ante-post Guineas betting concluded in less than a minute and a half, as Home Of The Brave, from the Hugo Palmer stable, made all the running under James Doyle to beat Tupi by one and three-quarter lengths.
The winner did well in the circumstances as he did not really settle at any stage, but remains an outsider for the Guineas at 33-1. “We will have a long think and see what happens tomorrow and on Saturday [in the Craven Stakes and Greenham Stakes],” Palmer said. “He might be a perfect type for the Jersey [Stakes at Royal Ascot, also over seven furlongs].”
Faydhan, though, is definitely out of the Guineas. “He’s been a slow learner at home and I just wanted him relaxed,” Gosden said. “I’m satisfied, I don’t want to rush for a Guineas but I think he’ll come on a great deal for the second race of his career. He’s a little bit clueless if anything, he’s not really got a racing mind yet. I’m glad at the way he’s run on steadily and I’m not at all surprised by the result, it’s rather what I expected with speed horses, fast ground and a tailwind. I see this horse as being more of a Royal Ascot type.”
Palmer enjoyed a fine start to the new season at Newmarket, saddling Gifted Master to win the card’s two-year-old race and also sending out New Providence to finish a short-head behind the winner Osaila in the Group three Nell Gwyn Stakes, a major trial for the 1,000 Guineas.
Frankie Dettori had more to spare than the margin might suggest at the end of the race and Osaila will head to the Classic on 3 May with Richard Hannon, her trainer, expecting a big run.
“She’s not there in her coat and might have needed the run so there’s another three to five pounds [in improvement] to come after that, probably,” Hannon said. “Sky Lantern was beaten in this race two years ago and went on and won the Guineas, and this filly is hopefully as good as her. She is rated 109 and Sky Lantern was 111 so there’s not a lot of difference between them and she will improve a lot for it.”
Dettori, too, riding Osaila for his principal employer Al Shaqab Racing, could also see reasons to expect improvement in next month’s Classic.
“Her draw was a big disadvantage today,” Dettori said. “You need to be speed and rail-oriented and so she’s done it well. She hasn’t come in her coat and she needs a mile, and throughout the day, nothing [else] has come from the back.”
Tiggy Wiggy, another of the Hannon stable’s leading juveniles last season, will go on trial for the 1,000 Guineas in the Fred Darling Stakes at Newbury, while the champion trainer saddles Moheet and Kool Kompany in the Craven Stakes at Newmarket on Thursday and two more potential Classic colts, Estidhkaar and Ivawood, in Saturday’s Greenham Stakes at Newbury. Ivawood, beaten a nose by Charming Thought in last year’s Middle Park Stakes, is now the second-favourite for the 2,000 Guineas at 5-1.
Gosden’s Lady Correspondent was another disappointment for the stable in the Nell Gwyn, finishing sixth of the eight runners, but he will look towards the Dante Stakes and a possible run in the Derby with Golden Horn, who justified strong support to win the Fielden Stakes by one and a half lengths.
Every tout in Newmarket was passing on a good word for Golden Horn beforehand and he followed up an impressive win in his only start at two with another promising success. Dettori was again the winning jockey and could yet be aboard at York and Epsom, so bookmakers were predictably cautious afterwards with a general offer of 20-1 for the Derby.
“I’m looking at the Dante, but I love [going] one step at a time,” Gosden said. “But this horse has been working very nicely and to come from last today in these conditions with a tailwind takes some doing. He’s a once-run maiden, he’s still a bit green.”
Gifted Master could be aimed towards the National Stakes at Sandown in May after opening up a four-length gap to City Of Stars. “If you win any maiden well at this time of the year, you’ve got to dream of grand things,” Palmer said. “Obviously at this stage all options will be open, there’s a very valuable conditions race at Newbury on 16 May and there’s also the National Stakes, you couldn’t rule that out. He was very babyish early on today but I’m sure he’ll be better over six furlongs and maybe seven by the end of the year.”
Andre Fabre said that he has lost his struggle to get High Celebrity, a leading ante-post contenders for the 1,000 Guineas, ready for Newmarket. “She will have to be rested,” Fabre said. “I was hoping we could get her there but it didn’t work. Obviously, I hope to get her back as soon as possible, but to be honest I have no idea how long she will need.”
The British Horseracing Authority issued a statement in response to concerns that the bookmakers’ profit margin on last Saturday’s Grand National at Aintree was unfairly inflated. The over-round on the biggest betting race of the year was 64.9%, a sharp increase from figures of 50.8% and 47.8% in 2014 and 2013 respectively.
“It is important that betting on British racing is attractive, open and fair to ensure its enduring appeal,” the BHA statement said. “The starting price system and associated betting shows from racecourses are key to fair and open betting, but also to betting operator profits.
“A proper balance is required so that fair value is available to betting customers if the SP is to continue in its current form. We will be seeking constructive discussions with the appropriate bodies to better understand the issue surrounding the Grand National, and the SP system in general.”
