Zavateri and Albert Einstein ready for fascinating Greenham clash

Eve Johnson Houghton expects to have a clearer idea of what route to take with Zavateri after he makes his seasonal debut in a fascinating renewal of the Watership Down Stud Too Darn Hot Greenham Stakes at Newbury on Saturday.

The Without Parole colt enjoyed a fantastic juvenile campaign last term, winning each of his first four starts including Group Two wins in Newmarket’s July Stakes and the Vintage at Goodwood before travelling to Ireland to beat subsequent Breeders’ Cup hero Gstaad at Group One level in the National Stakes.

He suffered defeat for the first time when only fourth on his final outing of the year in the Dewhurst at Newmarket, but Johnson Houghton has been delighted with the undoubted star of her Blewbury yard in the lead up to his return to action.

“He sets the standard he’s in great form. He is going to need the race to come on, but I’m as happy as I can be with him,” she said.

“We half-planned to have a racecourse gallop instead of running in a trial, but the trouble is he’s doing all his work so easily we need to put an edge on him.

“We’ve got good lead horses, but he’s just finding it all too easy.”

With Zavateri having struggled on the undulations of the Rowley Mile in the Dewhurst last autumn, Johnson Houghton has previously suggested he could sidestep the 2000 Guineas on May 2 in favour of the Irish equivalent three weeks later – but nothing is set in stone.

On whether the Irish Guineas was a more likely destination than the Newmarket version, the trainer added: “That was the last thinking, but it might not be the next thinking, I don’t know. It just depends how he runs on Saturday and how he comes out of it afterwards.

“It’s good fun, isn’t it? Imagine having a horse like this in your yard – it’s what you dream of.”

Significant intrigue is added to the Group Three contest by the surprise inclusion of Aidan O’Brien’s Albert Einstein, whose Classic aspirations took a major hit after he was beaten for the first time on his seasonal reappearance in the Gladness Stakes at the Curragh – and then appeared to be over entirely after he was scratched from the 2000 Guineas.

However, it later transpired he was removed from the race in error and O’Brien is keen to give the highly-touted colt an opportunity to potentially earn himself a shot, although he will need to be supplemented for Newmarket at a cost of £30,000.

“We think he’s a very fast horse. This will be on nice ground over seven furlongs and we’re going to learn a lot more,” said the Ballydoyle handler.

“The Curragh ground was very bad and he did run respectably. We need him to jump forward now and see then does he go on to the English Guineas or does he go back sprinting? That’s the reason he’s running really.”

Albert Einstein is one of two runners declared for the Coolmore operation along with the Simon and Ed Crisford-trained Title Role, who returns to British action off the back of a fruitful winter in Dubai.

The form of the Too Darn Hot colt’s Jumeirah 2000 Guineas win received a significant boost after the third home Talk Of New York enhanced his own Guineas claims with victory at Newmarket earlier in the week – and while Newmarket is not on Title Role’s agenda, he does have other Guineas options.

“He did very well in Dubai and he’s come back in good order,” said Ed Crisford.

“It looks like a deep field – I think both of the Guineas trials this week look like good races – and we’ll find out a lot about the horse on Saturday.

“I think he’ll be better over a mile, but we opted for Newbury and I’m sure he’ll run a solid race.

“We’ll see how he gets on but he’s in the Guineas in France and Ireland and Germany as well.”

Karl Burke’s Dewhurst sixth Alparslan also features, as do Gonna Fly (Ralph Beckett) and Needle Match (William Haggas), who made winning debuts on the same Newbury card in October.

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