1000 Guineas 2013

Bang goes my 25/1.
Zarooni should be Certified.

Both So You Think and Camelot were surprisingly defeated by horses from this barn.Makes you think does it not.Both horses suffered enormous losses in stud fees,most especially Camelot as a result of those defeats.How does one compensate the owners of horses defeated by the use of steroids?

Can anybody take out a license to train horses or is there some test you first have to pass?

Wasn’t Saeed Bin Suroor a policeman before he started training for Godolphin?

According to The Mirror website Zarooni received his licence as follows:-

"As assistant to Saeed bin Suroor, Al Zarooni was preparing Godolphin’s horses for the Dubai World Cup fixture when the sheikh arrived at the Al Quoz stables unannounced.

"He told me to jump in the car," recalls Al Zarooni, who served time with Rod Simpson, Ali Al Raihe and Mubarak bin Shafya before joining Godolphin.

"He was silent, then he told me he had decided to give me a licence. It was sudden and my brain couldn’t take it in."

Back to the 1000 Guineas, which horse do you think Richard Hughes will ride?

I don’t really buy his suggestion that he will ride Sky Lantern if the ground is quick and Maureen if it is soft? Sure, Maureen has proved adept on soft ground, but has not done anything to suggest she doesn’t go on top of the ground.

I think he’ll go for untapped potential in Maureen over the exposed Sky Lantern. Maureen looks more like a Richard Hughes daredevil project too. Extreme hold-up tactics, weaving through the pack and swooping on the line – he was made for this horse!

Now that Certify is sadly out of the Guineas I’m going to take a massive gamble that

Sky Lantern

needed her run on Nell Gwyn Day and was not pushed out to press Hot Snap for the lead once she had been passed.

Seeing her in the paddock she looked big and burly and I think the run will have brought her on and if the ground comes up Firm on the day then she will run a much better race.

Ladbrokes are offering Sky Lantern at a massive 14/1 which represents great each way value considering how close she ran to the favourite Hot Snap and with the added burdon of a 3lb penalty for her Gp.1 win at the Curragh last September. Come May 5th she will be running at level weights and this must be to her advantage.

I wouldn’t be ruling her out of Classic glory this early in the season and hope Richard Hughes chooses to remain faithful.

Being lightly raced it seems reasonable that Hot Snap will improve at least as much and probably more than Sky Lantern will for their runs. The way the race panned out suggests that Hot Snap will be better suited to the mile trip in addition. Even 3lb better in it is hard to see the form turned around next time. Maureen may not have beaten much in her trial, with the form horse Rosdhu Queen clearly not getting home. I don’t think she will be quite good enough to trouble the first few in the betting and I wouldn’t like to have Hughsie’s job in picking between the two.

@SteveCaution….
Looks like splitting the bet would be a good idea in view of what you say Steve and will be interesting to see who Hughsie chooses to ride, he is probably waiting to see how the going will be nearer the day.

Always remember that year that Music Show won the Nell Gwyn and Jacqueline Quest was about 7th, within 2 weeks she had reversed those placings with Music Show in the 1000 Guineas albeit that Special Duty took the spoils in the end.

It’s still a very open race and something could come out of the pack to surprise yet again, all a game of chance and luck but, in view of all the recent goings on at Godolphin, wouldn’t mind at all to see Cecil and Hot Snap take this with Sky Lantern in a place.
Last years Guineas was marred by the sad stalls incident and now the Godolphin scandal has thrown another shadow over the first Classic of the year, we need something to celebrate.

Marked absence of Godolphin horses today, it will be interesting to see how many turn out over the Guineas Meeting as most of the best were trained by Mahmood Al Zarooni. Obviously Dawn Approach will be there for the 2000 with Kevin Manning on board and it will be interesting to see if Sheik Mohammed and Princess Haya turn out for the prizegiving as they have done on previous years or whether they will choose to send representatives.

Back to the big race discussion…been looking over the field again for the 1000 Guineas and can’t rule out the French challenger What A Name she ran second to Olympic Glory in France last year in a colts and fillies race and seems to act on both Good, Soft and Heavy ground. Although that race was over 7f it was heavy ground which should mean she will get the Rowley Mile with no problem. Thinking back to Special Duty and how the French like to come over and raid our Classics. Any thoughts on this one?
Jac

Moth has been supplemented at a cost of £30,000

I wonder how much this has to do with the horse’s true chance and how much is to do with a lack of other contenders from the same stable? She was 66/1 for the race before her reappearance win. Two horses have run from that race since, one was a disappointment and the other hosed up 7 lengths but they were both running in maidens. I thought her best hope was 3rd but with Hot Snap arriving on the scene I couldn’t recommend her at the odds she is now.