High-Class Renewal Of The Stan James 2000 Guineas In Prospect

With just a fortnight to go until the first British Classic of the 2006 Flat season, the #330,000 Stan James 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, the race is shaping up into one of the strongest renewals seen for years.

At this stage, George Washington, officially rated the best juvenile colt in Europe last year, and Sir Percy, victorious in the 2005 Darley Dewhurst Stakes and the top-rated two-year-old colt in Britain, are both heading to Newmarket on Saturday, May 6, without a prep run.

In terms of the trials held so far this season, Asset was an impressive winner of the Listed Easter Stakes at Kempton Park on April 1, while earlier this week at Newmarket, Killybegs was the decisive winner of the Unicorn Asset Management Craven Stakes, Misu Bond captured the banshahousestables.com Free Handicap and Petrovich took the second division of the Basic Bloodstock Insurance Wood Ditton Stakes.

Dominic Gardiner-Hill, the British Horseracing Board´s official handicapper for horses in the mile category, commented: 'As far as the Unicorn Asset Management Craven Stakes is concerned, I don´t think Killybegs had to improve on his rating of 110 to win the race and he will almost certainly be left on his current mark. He is the serious Guineas contender to have emerged from the contest although he will need to improve on that performance to challenge the best two-year-olds from last year.

'George Washington was rated 124 last year with Sir Percy on 121 and Amadeus Wolf and Horatio Nelson on 120, so it would be disappointing if at least one of those did not run up to their two-old form.'

Amadeus Wolf (120) and Opera Cape (117), another of the top-rated two-year-olds of 2005, are set to run in the Stan James 2000 Guineas without prep races.

There is a further Guineas trial today at Newbury - the Lane´s End Greenham Stakes - and another of the last season´s top-rated two-year-olds, Red Clubs (117), is among those who line up.

Since the European Free Handicap ratings for two-year-olds were introduced in 1978, five horses that were rated either first of second have gone on to Stan James 2000 Guineas glory the following year.

• 1981 - To-Agori-Mou (2nd in 1980 Free Handicap)
• 1984 - El Gran Senor (1st in 1983 Free Handicap)
• 1992 - Rodrigo De Triano (2nd in 1991 Free Handicap)
• 1993 - Zafonic (1st in 1992 Free Handicap)
• 1995 - Pennekamp (2nd in 1994 Free Handicap)
• 2006 - GEORGE WASHINGTON AND SIR PERCY ?????

The 1995 renewal was similar to this year´s race in that the Classic saw Celtic Swing and Pennekamp, first and second respectively in the 1994 Free Handicap, both run, with Pennekamp prevailing.

Chris Williams, Managing Editor of Timeform, commented: 'On our ratings at the moment, Horatio Nelson is top on 123+ but obviously there is a doubt about whether he will run.

'Next, we have Sir Percy on 122+ followed by George Washington on 118p and Amadeus Wolf on 118.

'We probably would prefer Sir Percy at this stage, considering the doubts about Horatio Nelson.

'We don´t think George Washington´s form merits him being favourite. He ran to 118 in the Phoenix Stakes last year when beating Amadeus Mozart by eight lengths, but we think the other runners ran below form and Amadeus Mozart has been beaten this season and is still a maiden. George Washington didn´t impress when he won the National Stakes and ran to 109 that day after flicking his tail, idling and edging left.

'With trainers going straight for the Guineas these days, the Stan James 2000 Guineas is a harder race to weigh up than in the past.

'Although George Washington and Sir Percy have had racecourse gallops, there is still no way of knowing whether they have trained on until they actually run.

'In the previous five runnings of the 2000 Guineas, the best winner has been Haafhd who achieved a Timeform rating of 129. Sir Percy has shown form equivalent to Golan and better than Rock Of Gibraltar or Footstepsinthesand when they were successful.

'So, at this stage Sir Percy has shown good enough form to win the Guineas. We thought Horatio Nelson was unlucky not to have beaten Sir Percy in the Dewhurst last year and we would certainly favour him over his stable companion George Washington if he were to line up.'

Latest Stan James 2000 Guineas prices: George Washington 9/4, Sir Percy 4/1, Amadeus Wolf 8/1, Horatio Nelson 8/1, Art Museum 8/1, Killybegs 16/1, Nakheel 16/1, Asset 16/1, Opera Cape 20/1, Petrovich 25/1, Secret World 28/1, City Of Troy 33/1, Palace Episode 33/1, Atlantic Waves 33/1, With Interest 33/1, Olympian Odyssey 33/1, El Fuego 40/1, Golden Arrow 40/1, Yasoodd 40/1, Ivan Denisovich 50/1, Aussie Rules 50/1, Dylan Thomas 50/1, Sir Xaar 50/1, Araafa 50/1, Extreme Measures 50/1, Jeu De Mot 50/1, Arminius 50/1, Winged Cupid 50/1, Narvik 50/1, Close To You 50/1, Misu Bond 50/1, Hurricane Cat 50/1, Final Verse 50/1, Frost Giant 50/1, Achill Bay 50/1, Amadeus Mozart 50/1, Benjamin Franklin 50/1, Caribbean 50/1, James Joyce 50/1, Major Commitment 50/1, Priors Hill 50/1 66/1 BAR