G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas | Horse Racing Free Tips

Thunder Moon Heads Straight to The Guineas

Group 1 winner Thunder Moon (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) will make his next start in the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas on May 1. A winner of a maiden at The Curragh in August, the bay stepped up and won the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. by 1 ½ lengths there in September. He lost his unbeaten record with a third-place finish in the G1 Darley Dewhurst S. behind St Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and Wembley (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), both trained by trainer Joseph O'Brien's father Aidan.

“He's wintered very well,” O'Brien said on Nick Luck Daily on Tuesday morning. “Obviously we put him away after the Dewhurst, but I was very pleased with that run. The ground went a bit slow on us and we probably weren't drawn in the perfect position, but it was a very good run.

“The plan all winter has been to go straight to the Guineas and not have a prep. He's in good shape. His National S. win was a very good performance. It was a very messy race, but he got himself out of trouble and showed a fantastic turn of foot.

“Turn of foot and speed are probably his two attributes, he'd love a bit of firm ground as he's a strong traveller with a turn of foot, which he showed a couple of times last season. It would be pretty important to us that the ground is good or better.”

“I don't know if he's classier [than the two who beat him in the Dewhurst], but I probably feel that we are the quickest horse,” O'Brien added.

“We travelled very well through the Dewhurst and looked the winner, but on the day there was a severe bias to the rail, we were drawn on the other side and also the ground was on the slow side so I thought it was a fantastic run.

“When we broke down the race afterwards we were very proud of his run, we're looking forward to taking them on again on what we hope will be quicker going.

“His pedigree suggests he'll stay further, I'm quite confident about the mile but after that I'm not sure how much further he'd go as he's quite a pacey horse.

“I'd say Declan McDonagh is most likely to ride at Newmarket and we'll go from there, but it hasn't really been discussed yet. I'd imagine it will be Declan as he has a good relationship with him.”

O'Brien's G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas hopeful Pretty Gorgeous (Fr) (Lawman {Fr}), a winner of the G1 bet365 Fillies' Mile, is also in good form. Like her yardmate, she will also not have a prep prior to her run in the fillies' Classic.

“She's in good shape too, I'm pleased with how she's wintered,” O'Brien said. “She's a big, powerful mare and the plan is to go straight there,” he said.

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Chindit in Good Nick, Guineas Next

Sunday's G3 Watership Down Too Darn Hot Greenham S. hero Chindit (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) has emerged from his Newbury effort in good form and will contest the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas, trainer Richard Hannon has revealed. A winner of the Listed Pat Eddery S. on July 25 and G2 Champagne S. in September, the bay was ninth in the G1 Dewhurst S. at Newmarket in his 2-year-old finale.

“Chindit came out of the race brilliantly, he was in the pen most of the next day and has cantered this morning and he's fine,” said Hannon on Tuesday.

“His form is solid and it looks like he's going to be suited by the test of the Guineas. To me it looked as if he was crying out for a mile.”

His twice-raced stablemate Snow Lantern (GB) (Frankel {GB}) graduated impressively on the Newbury card and earned 'TDN Rising Star' status, but she will not contest the G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas.

Hannon said on his website, “Following a discussion with connections, Snow Lantern will not be taking up her engagement in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket and will instead be aimed for either the G3 Musidora S. or the Listed Michael Seeley S. at York's May meeting.

“With the Michael Seeley being run over a mile and the Musidora over a mile and a quarter, both of these races will give us options and gives her an extra couple of weeks.

“Either race will give us a good guide on where we stand for the rest of the season with her too. She holds entries in the Epsom Oaks and Prix de Diane, and these engagements will be dependant on her York performance.

“There are plenty of options coming up for her. She is a special filly, with a beautiful pedigree and has already proved an exciting prospect for her owner-breeders, Rockcliffe Stud.”

Happy Romance (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), successful in the G3 Dick Poole Fillies' S., will be kept at sprint distances after running 10th in the G3 Fred Darling S.

“She just didn't stay, so we'll go sprinting,” said Hannon. “I must admit I thought she was sure to stay, but she clearly didn't.

“I don't mind admitting when I'm wrong, it happens often enough. There are still plenty of races she can go for and she's already won a Super Sprint, a Group 3 and a sales race at York already and the owners have had a ball. There are many good days left in her yet.”

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Moment of 2020: Kameko

In Moment of 2020, the staff of TDN Europe reflect on their favourite moments in racing for the year.

Future Classic winner Kameko (Kitten’s Joy) first came on my radar with his nose second in the G3 Solario S. in August of 2019 after winning on debut at Sandown in July. I especially noticed the flashy dark bay because he bore the same Qatar Racing silks as another favourite of mine, the late Cartier Horse of the Year Roaring Lion, also a Kentucky-bred incidentally by Kitten’s Joy.

A $90,000 Keeneland September yearling, the Calumet Farm-bred Kameko gave every indication he was moving in the right direction in his next start, this time second by a neck in the G2 Royal Lodge S. at Newmarket in September of 2019 for trainer Andrew Balding. His progression continued with a smart win-by 3 1/4 lengths–in the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy in November last term, but the race was also notable as the first British Group 1 race ever contested on a synthetic surface. As such, perhaps its overall form carried less clout ahead of the 2020 Classics than if it had been contested on a traditional turf course. Regardless, for me I had settled on my Classic horse for the 2020 season.

The winter of 2019/2020 seemed to be stretching endlessly, despite the weather gradually improving. And then COVID-19 hit, turned the world on its head and racing ceased in the UK on Mar. 17. By the time French racing resumed with a quartet of group races on May 11, I was just grateful for racing anywhere in Europe, let alone worrying about the impending Classics.

British racing began again on June 1 and just five days later Kameko, under regular rider and champion jockey Oisin Murphy, stamped his quality on the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas in race record time, despite not having the clearest of runs late on. After failing to stay with a fourth in the G1 Investec Derby at Epsom on July 4, Kameko faced his elders for the first time in the G1 Qatar Sussex S., but he was once again fourth after a troubled trip. He fared the same in the Aug. 19 10 1/2-furlong G1 Juddmonte International S. trying older heavy weights Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and connections determined he was strictly a miler.

Newmarket’s G2 Joel S. appeared to be a top-flight race in all but name, and much was riding on the outcome of the one-mile test. Back at HQ for the first time since his Classic victory, Kameko was facing an accomplished older horse in Godolphin’s MG1SW Benbatl (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) while also carrying top weight in the six-horse field. It was a definite acid test for the Qatar Racing runner, who needed to prove that his Classic win, although accomplished in a wonderfully fast clocking, had not been a fluke.

Needless to say, I was glued to my computer screen that September morning. Would Kameko bounce back to his best at his preferred distance? He’d ducked no one throughout his campaign and this was his first try outside of Group 1 company since his G2 Royal Lodge second just under a year prior.

Second choice on the board behind Benbatl, the son of GIII Senorita S. heroine Sweeter Still (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}) was away in good order, but was already being scrubbed on by Murphy at the half-way point. Kameko readily responded to his pilot’s cajoling and he split horses decisively to emerge with a slight advantage in the climb to the line. He wore down the pacesetting Benbatl and fended off the rallying Regal Reality (GB) (Intello {Ger}) to post a clear score. The latter edged Benbatl for second and it was on to the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile in November for the son of Kitten’s Joy.

Although unplaced at Keeneland, the 2021 Tweenhills Stud recruit deftly advertised his ample talent and class during his two campaigns and I look forward to his foals lighting up the course in years to come.

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