Tearing the wrapping paper off a birthday present, there is always certain excitement at what you might find, even if the shape and feel of package give you a very good idea what to expect.
Tearing the wrapping paper off a birthday present, there is always certain excitement at what you might find, even if the shape and feel of package give you a very good idea what to expect.
That is pretty much how it is at Newmarket's Guineas meeting. Key races at the back end of the season, such as the G1 Dewhurst, the G1 Cheveley Park Stakes, and the G1 Fillies' Mile, all tried and tested yardsticks, usually give the best pointer to the Classics the following year.
We know the form in the book, we have an established pecking order. We know what to expect. Or do we?
There is always that element of the unknown that provides a certain fascination. How have they wintered? Have certain backward types matured since last seen on a racecourse? Will the dominant, high-profile horses maintain their level of superiority?
With the modern trend toward skipping the traditional prep races and going straight to the first Classics, it means that excitement in anticipation is ever-present at this meeting. There are questions to be answered.
Godolphin have declared three colts to put the established rankings to the test. Despite Emotionless missing the G1 Qipco 2,000 Guineas, Buratino, Herald The Dawn and Ribchester form a strong three-sided challenge to take on Air Force Blue, who put together a hat-trick of G1 wins in late summer/autumn last year.
Buratino is so far the only horse to have beaten Air Force Blue -- that came in high summer when he landed the G2 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot -- and this Exceed And Excel colt has pleased trainer Mark Johnston, particularly in two recent racecourse gallops.
The Jim Bolger-trained Herald The Dawn who won the G2 Futurity Stakes at the Curragh last August, finished second to Air Force Blue in the G1 National Stakes at the Curragh, but then failed to run his race at Longchamp on Arc Day.
The Richard Fahey-trained Ribchester, winner of Newbury's G2 Mill Reef Stakes, was demoted after hampering a rival in the G3 Prix Djebel at Maisons-Laffitte earlier this month, but has clearly come to hand well for this important target.
Of the Godolphin trio, Herald The Dawn is the one who could bounce back to provide the most serious opposition to market leader, Air Force Blue, while Massaat, the runner-up in the Dewhurst, is also a strong contender in the colours of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
The Johnston-trained Lumiere faces 15 well-credentialed fillies in the G1 Qipco 1,000 Guineas, and if she can repeat her performance in winning the G1 Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket last season, she will be hard to beat. Minding, winner of the G1 Fillies' Mile, is her biggest rival.
Lumiere carries the colours of the Crown Prince of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum.
Johnston remains ultra-confident Lumiere can stay the one-mile trip of the 1,000 Guineas.
